Walsh Irish Whiskey produces the well-known Writers Tears and The Irishman whiskies and exports to over 40 countries. Until recently, Bernard and Rosemary sourced whiskey from Midleton, but as exports have continued to grow and to ensure that the distillery remains independent for many years to come, the Walsh family decided to open its own distillery and visitor centre on the estate. A major undertaking, costing €25 million (AUD$36 million) and taking almost three years to build. A worthy cause nevertheless, with supply for the distillery now secured for the foreseeable future.
Writers Tears is currently distributed in Australia through the island2island Beverage Company and now The Irishman has also secured its position in this market with newly appointed distributor, Spirits Platform. To help share the news and, of course, the whiskey, Walsh Whiskey Distillery's Global Brand Ambassador, Sean Normoyle, is currently in Australia meeting with trade. drinks bulletin sat down with Sean to find out what makes The Irishman different to other Irish whiskeys and who its audience will be in Australia.
drinks bulletin: What makes whiskey from Walsh Whiskey Distillery different to other Irish whiskies?
Sean Normoyle: We are one of the few Irish whiskey distilleries that are still independently owned. A lot of the others are successful brands, but have been bought out by large corporations. The industry is getting to a point where pretty much all of the brands are owned by Pernod Ricard and Beam Suntory, and Bernard has been strongly against that from the get go. He wants this to not just be about him, but also his kids and grandkids. He's invested a huge amount of time and effort, so he wants to build something that will still be there in 200 years.
And then when you look at the products themselves - we make a whiskey that is unique not just to the Irish category, but to the world. The Irishman Founders Reserve is made from a blend of single malt whiskey and single pot still whiskey. Single pot still is the only style of whiskey that is exclusively made in Ireland. Where single malt is produced from 100 per cent malted barley, Single pot still whiskey uses a mix of malted and unmalted barley. This mixed mashbill gives the whisky a distinctive spiciness known as 'pot still spice'. By blending these two styles of Irish whiskey to create The Irishman Founders Reserve (70 per cent single malt and 30 per cent single pot still), Walsh Whiskey Distillery can deliver a unique premium style blend that contains no grain whiskey.
DB: What does entering the Australian market represent for the distillery?
SN: The Australian market is an important market. There is a large Irish community here. There is also an affinity between the two countries I think; we always look at Australia as an extension of the UK. I don't mean that in an offensive way, but rather in that it's seen as a place where there is a warm welcome for Irish products.
DB: Which is your biggest export market?
SN: The largest by far is the U.S, we sell a third of our produce there.
DB: Who is The Irishman's audience?
SN: Generally 25+, who have drank bourbon and Irish standard whiskies in the past, but want to climb the ladder and have something a little more interesting. We're not completely breaking the bank, but its enough that it's a step up and they are really, really good quality whiskies.
DB: Tell us about the new distillery at Royal Oak
SN: Oh it's huge; we finally have a home. It also means, and this is the critical part, that we can control our destiny from now on. We were very limited in the quantities that we could get from the Midleton distillery, even though the quality was exceptional. The Irish whiskey industry is booming and stocks are declining at an alarming rate, so there's only so much that Midleton is willing to give us.
It's always been one of Bernard's goals to have a distillery. He wants to experiment with finishes and be able to control the whiskey from grain to bottle. He's worked really hard on that and we are only taking barley from the surrounding countryside and the water from the estate.
Share the content
