Noteworthy Whiskey Marketing in Ireland?

rediguana

I am currently researching the whiskey sector in Ireland. In particular, I am looking for examples of any pubs / restaurants or retail outlets here who have taken an innovative or interesting approach to the promotion and marketing of whiskey.

Any info appreciated!

p.s. I posted this query on www.irishwhiskeysociety.com and got some useful info, so apologies if the same guys are lurking here and I'm boring them with the same post!

BeerNut

I quite liked the little baskety thing the Porterhouse commissioned Cooley to produce for their whiskey festival earlier this year. It held a sample glass of four Cooley whiskeys with a drinking order and tasting notes on each one.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Oooh, sounds interesting
I'd love to get involved but I have to say, I don't see a huge amount of advertising other than Jameson's tacky rubbish you see around. So nothing specifically. I think for the longest time the most advertising or marketing you got was the stained glassed in the windows that had Paddy or Powers or Jameson or Bushmills. I'd love to see other whiskies getting a look in actually.

Bull and Castle have a big list of whiskies they do with price and %abv. beside them. I'm not sure of what pubs in Dublin actually have a proper selection of whiskey outside of Bull and Castle and Porterhouse. I read on this forum that The Palace have a bottle of Green Spot, I'd love to know if there's like a sign for it or a leaflet or any specials or anything.

So to summarise, no I can't help but good luck

rediguana

Thanks, guys.

I actually contacted Porterhouse's HQ to ask them about their own plans for a distillery down in Kerry, but I'm still waiting to hear back. I have info on it from the spring but you wouldn't know how current that info is, what with the awful recession etc.

I'm trying to contact The Palace too as they are mentioned as a good whiskey pub on www.irelandwhiskeytrail.com

Brockagh

rediguana wrote: »

Thanks, guys.

I actually contacted Porterhouse's HQ to ask them about their own plans for a distillery down in Kerry, but I'm still waiting to hear back. I have info on it from the spring but you wouldn't know how current that info is, what with the awful recession etc.

I'm trying to contact The Palace too as they are mentioned as a good whiskey pub on www.irelandwhiskeytrail.com

Yes, they have some very rare stuff too there, like a whiskey from the Kilbeggan distillery and a DWD. Don't think the DWD is for sale, though.

lightening

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Jameson's tacky rubbish you see around

I like the current campaign! And.. it's working by all accounts. Good studio shots, nicely produced stuff. Magazine and newspaper works really well.

Fallen Buckshot

lightening wrote: »

I like the current campaign! And.. it's working by all accounts. Good studio shots, nicely produced stuff. Magazine and newspaper works really well.

i guess the flashy stuff has to make up for the piss in the green bottle they try to pass off as a good whiskey

Brockagh

I think the standard Jameson is pretty good whiskey. It's actually quite highly rated by the "experts". Jim Murray rates it 95. Not that I agree with that, but it's not bad at all, I think. Not as good as the regular Powers, though.

IrishWhiskeyCha

Fallen Buckshot wrote: »

i guess the flashy stuff has to make up for the piss in the green bottle they try to pass off as a good whiskey

Can't say it's may favourite regular whiskey but that is a bit strong :eek:

I'm more a powers man as I feel it goes with Guinness just perfectly :cool:

Irish Whiskeys such as Jameson and Powers as regular blends beat the pants of most other blended whiskies in their category. If you don't like it fair enough but that does not make it crap. With sales of over 30 million bottles they must be doing something right. And as Brockagh states it is highly rated by industry experts.

Red Sleeping Beauty

I'm just not a huge fan of their marketing and advertising. They advertise it as this cool drink for parties or whatever. Same with Guinness and the mythical rubbish, it's just ott. Wouldn't say Jameson's a pissy whiskey though. I think Powers is the best selling Irish whiskey in Ireland outside Dublin actually .


Btw, mind you Jameson is good for yr cocktails and all that and it mixes well with most mixers. Just tried it with ginger ale recently and liked it. Some people "over mix" spirits though I think to mask the taste and get pissed. Bad move...

Brockagh

Powers is/was the best selling whiskey on the island of Ireland, but I believe Jameson has, or is about to, overtake it. Powers does very well here considering how little it's advertised, comparitivley.

IrishWhiskeyCha

Alan Rouge wrote: »

I'm just not a huge fan of their marketing and advertising. They advertise it as this cool drink for parties or whatever. Same with Guinness and the mythical rubbish, it's just ott. Wouldn't say Jameson's a pissy whiskey though. I think Powers is the best selling Irish whiskey in Ireland outside Dublin actually .

Have to agree with you there ... the big corporate monster doing it's ugly thing as usual. :mad:

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Btw, mind you Jameson is good for yr cocktails and all that and it mixes well with most mixers. Just tried it with ginger ale recently and liked it. Some people "over mix" spirits though I think to mask the taste and get pissed. Bad move...

That's exactly the market the're trying corner and trying to nab a much younger drinker to boot to increase it's sales.

Have a look at this piece on a bar in the states HERE

Red Sleeping Beauty

Ah yeah good little site that, was only looking at that bit on the bar the other day. I wonder is that something the OP's looking for ?

lightening

Alan Rouge wrote: »

I'm just not a huge fan of their marketing and advertising. They advertise it as this cool drink for parties or whatever. Same with Guinness and the mythical rubbish, it's just ott

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Btw, mind you Jameson is good for yr cocktails and all that and it mixes well with most mixers. Just tried it with ginger ale recently and liked it.

Read what you wrote. Looks like the campaign is working very well.

Fallen Buckshot

ok ok maybe i went abit over on the jamesons tastes like piss .. but powers has alot more character and flavor .. i would even drink Tullamore over Jamesons..
just seems abit thin and watery and i believe old Jimmy is 1 seller cause the advert the sh1te outta it

ive never seen a Powers gift pack with glasses nor is it even carried in most pubs in the US.. of course i guess i cant realy complain because Powers gold is about 5-6 quid cheaper than Jameson ..Advert cost ?

thats like saying Guinness is best stout in the world ... no its just more/well adverted than Beamish , Murphys or O'haras

Brockagh

Fallen Buckshot wrote: »

ok ok maybe i went abit over on the jamesons tastes like piss .. but powers has alot more character and flavor .. i would even drink Tullamore over Jamesons..
just seems abit thin and watery and i believe old Jimmy is 1 seller cause the advert the sh1te outta it

ive never seen a Powers gift pack with glasses nor is it even carried in most pubs in the US.. of course i guess i cant realy complain because Powers gold is about 5-6 quid cheaper than Jameson ..Advert cost ?

thats like saying Guinness is best stout in the world ... no its just more/well adverted than Beamish , Murphys or O'haras

I agree with you about Powers. There's more pot still whiskey in it. My drink of choice in the pub, along with Guinness.

Red Sleeping Beauty

lightening wrote: »

Read what you wrote. Looks like the campaign is working very well.

Oh definitely I agree
When I started drinking I got swept up by the Jameson machine. It does taste well in cocktails and if you can get it on special then sure why not. I get a bottle or two every year as a present hence there always being one around.

I don't know if Powers Gold is cheaper than Jameson by that much is it ? Think the 70cl bottles goes for about €26 and what's Jameson? another euro or so ?

Btw, I think Powers has about 80% pot still in it. (can't remember where I read that, could've been that whiskey blog site linked above)

Fallen Buckshot

Alan Rouge wrote: »

I don't know if Powers Gold is cheaper than Jameson by that much is it ? Think the 70cl bottles goes for about €26 and what's Jameson? another euro or so ?

Yah here in the states a bottle of powers goes fer about 18-20$ James goes for 24-26$

Red Sleeping Beauty

You're in the States ? As in the the American States ?
A)Didn't know you could get Powers there (at least not in any decent amount, I understood that they only made enough for the Irish market and whatever was left was exported. Damn Jameson tour guide lying to me:p)
, wow, that's a fairly good price though. Wish I could get Powers here for €13.


Can you get the Powers 12 yr old in America ? That's about €37-42 here (the €42 price is from Redmonds in Ranalegh)

rediguana

Thanks everyone. Interesting discussion there.

I think, rightly or wrongly, whiskey is perceived to be an older person's drink here. It's obviously a serious commercial issue for a company if its customers are gradually dying and are not being replaced by younger ones.

So I think it's understandable that Jameson has been aiming for younger punters in recent years. I have to say, the ads are very striking, and I would class them as being successful. The people in the ads are so "cool" it almost burns the eyes to look at them!

Still, I think whiskey has its work cut out to drag younger drinkers away from vodka.

That Minneapolois pub mentioned above is bizarre! That pub must have been getting some serious footfall of rich students or something IrishWhiskeyCha - that's from 2007. Do you have any idea if The Local is still going strong with the Jameson or was that just a flash-in-the-pan?

p.s. I'm still a whiskey novice, in terms of drinking it. But I had Greenore in a tasting and I loved it. Where can I get it in Cork? It's going to be my present-of-choice for people this Christmas, instead of Jameson, which is a bit too thoughtless as a present, I think!

lightening

rediguana wrote: »

The people in the ads are so "cool" it almost burns the eyes to look at them!

In what way? Are you talking about the recent campaign? Guy with the ink on his hand and the cute dark haired girl with the two fingers over her eye? There is nothing alternative or punkish about them, pretty neutral and very conservative clothing.

Brockagh

rediguana wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Interesting discussion there.

I think, rightly or wrongly, whiskey is perceived to be an older person's drink here. It's obviously a serious commercial issue for a company if its customers are gradually dying and are not being replaced by younger ones.

So I think it's understandable that Jameson has been aiming for younger punters in recent years. I have to say, the ads are very striking, and I would class them as being successful. The people in the ads are so "cool" it almost burns the eyes to look at them!

Still, I think whiskey has its work cut out to drag younger drinkers away from vodka.

That Minneapolois pub mentioned above is bizarre! That pub must have been getting some serious footfall of rich students or something IrishWhiskeyCha - that's from 2007. Do you have any idea if The Local is still going strong with the Jameson or was that just a flash-in-the-pan?

p.s. I'm still a whiskey novice, in terms of drinking it. But I had Greenore in a tasting and I loved it. Where can I get it in Cork? It's going to be my present-of-choice for people this Christmas, instead of Jameson, which is a bit too thoughtless as a present, I think!

There are few different Greenores. There's is/was a standard one, a six year old, an eight year old and a 15 year old. I don't know about Cork, but htey're available in the Celtic Whsikey shop. Some may be gone, but the six and the eight are there.

rediguana

Lightening - I suppose I'm referring to the billboards of the early thirty-somethings sitting around in some euro-style outdoor cafe. . .

Brockagh - it's the standard one I'm talking about. I prefer more youthful styles...

yknaa

The Celtic whiskey shop have a tie-in with some pubs such as Nearys in Dublin where Cooley products are on offer and they have a 'whiskey of the month' available such as Greenore etc. Hope it is working well for them.

Fallen Buckshot

Alan Rouge wrote: »

You're in the States ? As in the the American States ?
A)Didn't know you could get Powers there (at least not in any decent amount, I understood that they only made enough for the Irish market and whatever was left was exported. Damn Jameson tour guide lying to me:p)
, wow, that's a fairly good price though. Wish I could get Powers here for €13.


Can you get the Powers 12 yr old in America ? That's about €37-42 here (the €42 price is from Redmonds in Ranalegh)

Yeah the American States lol yah cant find it alot but theres atleast 6 bottles in some of the local offies as for Powers 12 i havent been able to track a single bottle of that .. jameson and bushmill you can get about the full range .. no crested 10 or greenspot tho

Red Sleeping Beauty

Ah Greenspot I think you can only get in one or two shops in Dublin. If Jameson's flying the flag for Irish whiskey and Irish whiskey is getting more popular would there be a chance that there'll be more choice or will the ID/Pernod just want to keep making a load of money on the Jameson ?

I'd imagine you can get just about any Scottish whisky you want over there ?

btw, just had a gander at the prices in my Supervalue here and Paddy's the cheapest at €25, then Powers @ €26 and Jameson's €27. (leaving out that weird Dunphys stuff which is a score)

Fallen Buckshot

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Ah Greenspot I think you can only get in one or two shops in Dublin. If Jameson's flying the flag for Irish whiskey and Irish whiskey is getting more popular would there be a chance that there'll be more choice or will the ID/Pernod just want to keep making a load of money on the Jameson ?

I'd imagine you can get just about any Scottish whisky you want over there ?

btw, just had a gander at the prices in my Supervalue here and Paddy's the cheapest at €25, then Powers @ €26 and Jameson's €27. (leaving out that weird Dunphys stuff which is a score)

yeah alotta high end scotch but who wants to pay 80$+ most ive has was just orite and the islay i had was gawd aweful. and as fer paddys i know of one irish pub that carries it but have never seen a bottle of it in the offie

Red Sleeping Beauty

Does anyone know why it's Jameson over Powers that gets pushed with the ads and marketing ? Powers is so superior to Jameson I think and Jamesons even a euro or so more expensive! The Crested Ten is a nicer version of the Jamesons I think with less "afterburn".

Fallen Buckshot

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Does anyone know why it's Jameson over Powers that gets pushed with the ads and marketing ? Powers is so superior to Jameson I think and Jamesons even a euro or so more expensive! The Crested Ten is a nicer version of the Jamesons I think with less "afterburn".

im thinking it so simple that it flys in the face of reason .. why tout powers when is speaks for itself with flavor/character so it seems you have to advert yer weakest product :pac:

Brockagh

Fallen Buckshot wrote: »

im thinking it so simple that it flys in the face of reason .. why tout powers when is speaks for itself with flavor/character so it seems you have to advert yer weakest product :pac:

I don't know the answer, but it might be because they just chose one to run with and it happened to be Jameson. It was probably the biggest brand before they merged so might have been the logical one to go with.

Also, there is more pot still in Powers, so maybe they don't have the stocks to push it. More cheaper grain in Jameson.

Fallen Buckshot

Brockagh wrote: »

I don't know the answer, but it might be because they just chose one to run with and it happened to be Jameson. It was probably the biggest brand before they merged so might have been the logical one to go with.

Also, there is more pot still in Powers, so maybe they don't have the stocks to push it. More cheaper grain in Jameson.

ahh yeah pot still is more intensive .. i shoulda thot of that

Red Sleeping Beauty

Saw a poster in Bull & Castle for their Cooley Dist. tester tray. (little did I know they do a load of other tester trays as well). It was a nice experience. Didn't like the Peated malt and the Single Malt wasn't really as fabulous as I thought it might be but I was impressed with the blend.

Fallen Buckshot

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Saw a poster in Bull & Castle for their Cooley Dist. tester tray. (little did I know they do a load of other tester trays as well). It was a nice experience. Didn't like the Peated malt and the Single Matl wasn't really as fabulous as I thought it might be but I was impressed with the blend.

yeah i wish more pubs did tester trays and the like .. i hate to buy a 30+ quid bottle of some sorts just to find out after a dram its gag nasty
havnet tried many of the cooley whiskeys but the Tyrconnell was a fresh change

the beer revolu

rediguana wrote: »

p.s. I'm still a whiskey novice, in terms of drinking it. But I had Greenore in a tasting and I loved it. Where can I get it in Cork? It's going to be my present-of-choice for people this Christmas, instead of Jameson, which is a bit too thoughtless as a present, I think!

If anywhere in Cork has it it'd be Bradley's on North Main Street - best whiskey range in Cork

Red Sleeping Beauty

Bull and Castle have three of four different taster trays.
Jameson
Bushmills
Cooley
"Master"

Cooley was €8, Master was €23 and you get 5 half measures including a Middleton V. Rare

getoffthepot

Alan Rouge wrote: »

You're in the States ? As in the the American States ?
Can you get the Powers 12 yr old in America ? That's about €37-42 here (the €42 price is from Redmonds in Ranalegh)

I heard Powers 12yo will be sold in the US in 2010.

rediguana

the beer revolu wrote: »

If anywhere in Cork has it it'd be Bradley's on North Main Street - best whiskey range in Cork

I know the place, thanks, so I'll try that next time I'm passing. Cheers!