[26th April 2021] The Dublin Liberties Distillery (The DLD) today announced it achieved record sales growth over the past 12 months, as global sales of its Dubliner and Dublin Liberties Irish Whiskey brands grew year-on-year by 21% for the April 2020 to March 2021 period.
Despite the temporary closure of licenced premises due to Covid-19 impacting the on-trade market, combined sales of both brands for the year topped 900,000 bottles for the first time, taking the total bottles sold since their launch in 2017 to over 2.5 million in more than 25 markets.
Volume growth of 69% and 51% was achieved in Germany and Ukraine respectively, with Dubliner placing amongst the top four selling Irish whiskey brands in Germany, Poland, Russia and Ukraine. Over 350,000 bottles were sold in the key US Irish Whiskey market, as sales of Dubliner benefited from the introduction of new-look bottles and branding this year.
Domestic sales also performed positively, with year-on-year growth of 44% generated. Both brands were listed in Tesco supermarkets for the first time, while sales at both Dunnes Stores and SuperValu grew by over 50%. Further new listings were secured with the Carryout Off Licence Group, bringing Dubliner Whiskey & Honeycomb Liqueur directly to Irish consumers for the first time.
Welcoming the performance, Fergus Murphy, General Manager at The Dublin Liberties Distillery said: “Despite an extremely difficult and fluctuating environment, we had a very strong 12 months, with global sales of Dubliner and Dublin Liberties Irish Whiskey showing great resilience. We sold just under 900,000 bottles this year, driven mainly by sales in our key markets of the US, Germany, Ukraine, Ireland and Australia, while we also saw encouraging growth in emerging markets despite the pandemic.”
“Since 2017, we have sold over 2.5 million bottles of premium Irish Whiskey globally and expect to continue to break sales records driven by our ambitious 10-year growth plan. There are exciting times ahead for our brands as we look to focus on new international markets and reimagine brand identities to target a wider spectrum of consumers.”
The DLD opened its state-of-the-art whiskey distillery and visitor experience on Mill Street in Dublin’s Liberties in 2019. It is majority owned by Quintessential Brands Group, in partnership with Stock Spirits.
Over the past 18 months, The DLD has appointed a new leadership team to support the growth of its key brands, with Fergus Murphy taking over as General Manager in November 2019, while Bronagh Hunt stepped up to the role of Global Brands Director last November.
Master Distiller Darryl McNally will shortly move to a new consultancy role within the business, as he pursues other opportunities in the global whiskey industry. Since joining The DLD, Darryl has expertly trained a team of distillers to continue to produce quality single malt Irish whiskey.
ABOUT QUINTESSENTIAL BRANDS
Quintessential Brands owns an award-winning portfolio of world-class spirit brands, which is powered by a strong entrepreneurial vision and passion for innovation, backed by centuries of handcrafted distilling expertise.
Quintessential Brands Group was established in 2011 with the acquisition of G&J Distillers, the UK’s foremost gin distillery, which evolved from Thomas Dakin’s original 1761 operation and now produces an unrivalled quality gin selection. In Ireland, Dublin Liberties Distillery is our home of modern Irish whiskeys and First Ireland Spirits in Abbeyleix crafts award-winning Irish creams. Our French hub, L&L France, creates fine French fruit liqueurs, cognacs, brandies and vodka.
For more information, please contact the communications team at Quintessential Brands by e-mail: [email protected]
