UK drinks group, Quintessential Brands, has more Irish buys in sights

International drinks group Quintessential Brands is set to follow up its newly announced purchase of the Dublin Whiskey Company with a further acquisition in the coming weeks.

The London-based group — founded in 2011 by former Gruppo Campari chief Enzo Visone and ex-investment banker Warren Scott — yesterday confirmed the purchase of the Dublin Whiskey Company for an undisclosed “multi-million euro” figure.

A deal had been much speculated upon in recent weeks.

A €10m investment plan covers the acquisition and the building of a new distillery in the capital, which is set to open next year.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Scott said Quintessential plans to grow in Ireland both organically and via further acquisition.

To that end, he said that the company has identified its next Irish acquisition and expects to be in a position to make an announcement by early summer.

The Dublin Whiskey Company takeover was in the offing for around a year.

Quintessential entered the Irish market via the takeover of First Ireland Spirits — from a consortium including former CIE chairman John Lynch and ACT Venture Capital — in 2014.

The group already employs 40 people here and last year spent €4m on doubling production at its Abbeyleix facility where it produces a number of brands.

These include Dubliner Irish Whiskey, Dublin Liberties Irish Whiskey, Feeney’s Irish Cream Liqueur, and O’Mara’s Irish Country Cream.

Abbeyleix will continue to be the base for the cream liqueur brands and Quintessential’s bottling facility, which is also used for third party contracts.

The new Dublin distillery will be used for the production of the whiskey brands, while Mr Scott also said that the company is keen to grow into new drinks categories.

“Through First Ireland Spirits we have been in the whiskey business since 1994 and now we are set to take this to an entirely new level,” said Mr Scott. “We plan to become a leading player in the Irish spirits industry.”

Quintessential Brands is the largest independent Irish cream liqueur producer in the world, selling more than 1.3 m cases, or 16m bottles, per year and is aiming to significantly expand its share of the Irish whiskey market.

It already sells its whiskies in Ireland, Britain, Germany, and the US, and will soon extend that reach to more than 50 countries.

The company will employ nearly 100 people once its new distillery — which will also include a visitor centre — is up and running next year.