Quintessential Brands expands Irish team
"Extensive experience" of new team members will help Quintessential Brands achieve its "goal of becoming the leading spirits company in the country," says CEO Warren Scott
Print9 February 2018
International spirits company, Quintessential Brands, owner of leading Irish Cream company, First Ireland Spirits, and majority owner of The Dublin Liberties Whiskey Company, has recruited some of Ireland’s top sales and marketing talent to help the company realise its ambitions in both the Irish market and in the global Irish whiskey category.
The company has appointed two homegrown, experienced senior marketers to support general manager and master distiller, Darryl McNally, and marketing director, Sinéad O Frighil, to drive the growth of its Irish whiskey brands, which include The Dubliner, The Dublin Liberties and The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey, which the company has revealed will be making its global debut in New York this month.
Avril Donagher has been appointed brand director, The Dublin Liberties Whiskey Company. Avril will take responsibility for The Dublin Liberties and The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey brands, driving their development and growth across the globe. She joins from Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard where she was senior brand manager for brand advocacy for Jameson Irish Whiskey.
Mark Hogan has been appointed marketing director, Quintessential Brands Ireland. Mark will primarily take responsibility for the development of The Dublin Liberties Distillery’s tourism marketing and visitor experience, and will spearhead the launch of The Dublin Liberties Distillery, which is currently under construction and expected to open in the autumn. Mark, who joins from Hot Press magazine where he was head of marketing, will also be tasked with raising the profile of Quintessential Brands’ portfolio amongst the trade and consumers in Ireland.
John Callely also joins the company as a consultant to support the development of The Dublin Liberties Distillery tourism strategy. John was managing director of the Jameson Visitor Centre for over 20 years and has also worked with Teeling Whiskey on the development and launch of their visitor centre.
In addition to the senior team appointments, Caoimhe Howard has been appointed international brand manager, Premium Whiskey. Caoimhe, who joins from Proximo, will support the development of The Dublin Liberties Distillery’s Irish whiskey portfolio. Caroline Daly has also been appointed international brand manager, Irish Creams, and joins from Edward Dillion where she was marketing manager for the Brown-Forman portfolio for Ireland.
The new hires follow the creation of Quintessential Brands’ own route to market in Ireland last year and the subsequent appointments of Max Hayes as commercial director for Quintessential Brands Ireland, and Lisa Doyle, who joined the company in March 2017 as on-trade commercial manager.
In June 2017, the company announced that Stock Spirits had invested €28 million in The Dublin Liberties Whiskey Company, allowing the company to accelerate the construction of its €10 million distillery, The Dublin Liberties Distillery, which is currently being built on Mill Street in the heart of the Dublin Liberties. Production of all the company’s whiskey brands will move to The Dublin Liberties Distillery and the site will also include an industry-leading visitor experience and a world-class bar.
Quintessential Brands CEO Warren Scott said the “extensive industry knowledge” of these new team members would help the company “achieve our goal of becoming the leading spirits company in the country”.
Currently, The Dubliner Irish Whiskey is the one of the fastest growing Irish whiskies globally, with the range of products in The Dublin Liberties and The Dubliner Irish Whiskey portfolios selling in more than 30 countries, achieving sales in excess of 39,000 cases (9L) in the 12 months to December 2017. Its collection of Irish creams and liqueurs brands crafted at its First Ireland Spirits production and bottling facility in Abbeyleix, Co. Laois now sell over 1,000,000 cases (9L) annually across 50 markets globally. The company’s gin brands, including Opihr Gin, Bloom Gin, Greenall’s Gin, are also all performing well globally as the gin renaissance continues.
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