Market Watch, September 2018

62 MARKET WATCH MARKETWATCHMAG COM SEPTEMBER 2018PHOTO BY MICHAEL O ROURKESingle Grain Single Malt As mainstream Irish whiskey brands pursue premiumization new craft labels and line extensions are increasingly grabbing market share by embracing nontraditional styles A lot of people have their first experience with Irish whiskey through one of the larger brands and generally its a blend says Donal OGallachoir co founder and U S brand ambassador of Glen dalough Distillery At Glendalough we dont offer any blended whiskies We try to do things a bit differently For the distillery that entails producing single grain and single malt Irish whiskies which are aged in a wide variety of casks These are typically not what the average consumer has tried in Irish whiskey OGallachoir says A lot of consumers dont even know that theres such a thing as Irish single malt let alone single grain In March the distillery debuted new pack aging and updated its Double Barrel 30 35 a 750 ml 7 year old 55 60 and 13 year old 110 119 expressions While all three are first aged in Bourbon casks the finishes are different The Double Barrel a single grain whiskey is now finished in Oloroso Sherry butts while the 7 year old single malt is matured in Black Pitts Porter barrels and the 13 year old single malt is finished in Japanese Mizunara oak In the U S OGallachoir notes that the single grain in particular has been a major success for the distillery serving as its top selling whiskey A lot of it comes down to flavor profile he says The single grain is a lighter whiskey on the sweeter side Stylistically its perfect for Bourbon drinkers and we pull a lot of those consumers into the Irish category Many craft producers share the mission of creating an entry point into Irish whiskey by playing with different styles Teelings flagship is Small Batch 40 a 750 ml a blended whiskey matured in ex rum barrels that acts as the gateway into the greater Teeling portfolio Small Batch is our take on trying to evolve what people expect about Irish whiskey Teeling says Weve taken all that weve learned from finish ing different single malts and applied that knowledge to a blended whiskey which tends to be lighter smoother and easier to drink People like blended Irish whiskey so we wanted to build on that while also challenging their percep tions of the style In addition to Small Batch the core Teeling portfolio also includes single grain 50 a 750 ml and single malt 60 whiskies The single grain is made from 95 corn and 5 malted barley column distilled and aged in Cabernet Sauvi gnon casks sourced from California giving it a distinctive sweetness and lovely elements of spice tannins and red berry according to Teeling The single malt expression is aged in a combination of five different wine casks prior to bottling lending it a fruit forward style Single malts are globally recognized theyre not just Scotch American or Japanese Teeling says Weve created a distinctive single malt that just happens to be Irish Teeling partnered with Bacardi in the U S last year and as part of that deal Bacardi took a minority stake in the brand Across all of its expres sions Teeling surpassed 18000 cases in the U S last year a gain of 20 TOP THREE IRISH WHISKEY BRANDSIN THE U S 2007 vs 2017 share of depletions Source IMPACT DATABANK 2018Jameson647 Others86 Tullamore DEW69 Bushmills198 2007835000 9 liter cases 100 Jameson835 Others53 Bushmills50 Tullamore DEW62 201739 million 9 liter cases 100 Bernard Walsh pictured founded Walsh Whiskey with his wife Rosemary in 1999 The company produces The Irishman and Writers Tears whiskey brands which both offer luxury expressions