Lost Irish whiskey has found a land of golden opportunity in America

Tim Herlihy, the co-founder of whiskey brand Lost Irish, is raising a glass to the US market as it celebrates being on course to sell 36,000 bottles in its first year.

The former Tullamore Dew US brand ambassador and his friend Neil Sands developed the Lost Irish brand in partnership with Mexican tequila producer Casa Lumbre. It has already landed deals across several notable US off-licences, including Total Wine & More, one of the country’s largest.

The whiskey, sourced from Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk, was first released in the US – but has recently launched in Ireland.

Lost Irish also counts Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits as its distributor in the US. The distributor is one of the biggest in America.

Speaking with Ergo, Herlihy said the US market continued to represent significant opportunities for Irish whiskey brands.

“When I first came to the US in 2009, you’d go to Irish pubs, and there would be more Scottish whisky than Irish whiskey. Now you are seeing Irish pubs get behind the category and stock a good selection of Irish whiskey."

Herlihy said he was excited to see what the reaction to Lost Irish would be like in Ireland.

“We are proud of what we have created and hope that we’re doing the Irish proud over here in the US – but to get the support and success in Ireland would mean the world to us.”

Lost Irish is made using casks from six continents: Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America. It is a blend of all three styles of Irish whiskey – grain, malt and pot still.

Redmond and Higgins opt for slower fashion

After a lifetime in the fashion trade, John Redmond and Karen Higgins made a frank admission
about the future of retail last week as they unveiled some of the products in their new online store, ecrustudios.com.

"I wish we had the answer to where retail is going,” said Higgins. “We were just walking down Grafton Street yesterday and saying how hard it was to see it.”

Higgins and Redmond, who both held senior roles at Brown Thomas, have left the world of seasonal trends with their choice of homeware and clothing brands.

“Our pieces are timeless and not trend driven,” said Higgins. “We definitely want a slower pace.”

Buymedia wants advertising community to buy into charity push

Galway advertising platform Buymedia is seeking support from the advertising community to provide in-kind ad space and direct financial support for Unicef.

Buymedia will donate 1pc of revenue generated between now and the end of the year to the charity and ask advertisers on its platform to act similarly, with a voluntary donation from advertising spend.

It plans to encourage its media partners to provide free advertising to Unicef Ireland.