Simon Zebo: 'Finding myself part of another team is the dream scenario'

Founders of Black Emerald Simon Zebo, Finian Sedgwick and Ernest Cantillon at the launch of the brand at Sober Lane, Cork. Picture: Gerard McCarthy.

Former Irish and Munster rugby star Simon Zebo has joined forces with Cork publican Ernest Cantillon and whiskey industry veteran Finian Sedgwick to launch the new Irish whiskey brand, Black Emerald.

Following its successful debut in Australia, Black Emerald was recently launched for the first time in its home country at Sober Lane in Cork city.

Founded by Cantillon, Zebo, and Sedgwick, the Black Emerald brand is built on a simple idea: No One Drinks Alone. The brand encompasses the importance of community and the idea that whiskey is a drink made to be shared and bring people together.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner at the recent launch at Sober Lane, Zebo reflected on his father’s love of whiskey and how he was brought up being educated on the different types of whiskey.

“My whiskey journey started when I was a young boy, I suppose. My father used to be an avid whiskey collector, having his friends over to share a drop and a dram since I can remember,” he said.

“I've always been around whiskey, and my father used to educate me on which ones he liked and which were the good ones, the bad ones. So, I think growing up around whiskey, it’s funny how it all comes full circle, and to be a part of the team with Ernest, Finian, and the wider Black Emerald team is something I’m very grateful for, and I’m full throttle towards this project.

Oisín Sedgwick, Brand Manager, Founders Ernest Cantillon, a lifelong publican, Simon Zebo, international rugby player, Finian Sedgwick, whiskey industry veteran and Eimear McCarthy, COO pictured at the launch of a new Irish whiskey, Black Emerald, at Sober Lane, Cork. Picture: Gerard McCarthy.

“It’s just funny how I have naturally immersed myself in the industry, and it's been a really nice transition. Obviously, being a part of the team for so long, to come into retirement and find myself part of another team is the dream scenario. So yeah, very excited about the future of Black Emerald.” 

When asked how he would compare being involved in launching a whiskey brand to playing on the field, he said: “I suppose, on the field, I would have called myself a know-it-all. So it's a bit of a change now, coming into the alcohol industry, into the whiskey world. I rely on the two co-founders I have beside me for certain things. 

I think we bounced off each other quite naturally, quite well, and that feeds into us all making Black Emerald what it is, and it's been an enjoyable journey so far, and I think good times are on the horizon for sure.

Speaking about how the partnership came about, publican Ernest Cantillon, who has been involved in the whiskey industry for years, said: “Myself and Simon are both from Blackrock in Cork, so we knew of each other then. I’ve always been a Munster fan.

“And then, Simon, in the off-season, liked to do a little bit of hospitality. So, I know him, and I’ve been involved in the whiskey and drinks business for a long time, and I just wanted to do something different, and Simon has always been that. The way he brought himself to sport and the way he presents himself, he’s just different. And I just felt that it was something that hadn’t been done before, something a little less traditional.

“Finian, our third partner, has been in Japan, Vietnam, the States, everywhere, and we needed someone who had been there and done that, so that’s the nature of the team and I think we’ve got all bases covered.” 

Cantillon also noted that all three founders had their father’s present at the launch – a special moment for all of them.

“On a side note, all three of our fathers have been here tonight at different parts of the night, which is very nice. My dad got as far as the door, ‘How’s it going? Good, okay’. He lives nearby. Doesn’t drink whiskey, but called in for a bit of support and the guys’ dads are here as well, which is very nice for all of us tonight. It’s a nice thing to bond over, and we all have that in common,” he said.

Simon Zebo, Ernest Cantillon and Finian Sedgwick at the launch of new Irish whiskey, Black Emerald, at Sober Lane, Cork. Picture:Gerard McCarthy.

Speaking about the making of the whiskey, Finian Sedgwick said there was a gap in the market for a good quality whiskey that focused on community and bringing people together.

“I've been in the industry for a long time, and I wanted to make sure that if we were going to do something, we were going to do something that had its own lane to play in, that brought something new to the category and played back to the truths of things that we all believe in, which is community, that whiskey is a drink that's made to be shared, that should be bringing people together,” he said.

“In the whiskey industry, over the last five or 10 years, you've seen it become a little bit more like wine or something, where it feels a little bit like there's a bit of a velvet rope around some of the category.

If you look at the global whiskey scene, Irish whiskey has so much more room to play in being very much fundamentally about people and we've been making it for a long time. We make good whiskey.

“When we were looking for where in the space there was somewhere that we could have our own say, single grain just felt very natural, because we've been making single grain in Ireland for generations and it's kind of the forgotten child of Irish whiskey, we haven't spoken about it a lot, and and yet it's in most of the whiskey that people drink. It's something that people might be familiar with without even knowing that they're familiar with it.

“When we landed on that, we looked at Black Emerald and said: There's a modern story of Ireland that isn't quite being told by the Irish whiskey category, and there's also a whiskey that fits that narrative.” Sedgwick said the whiskey has now taken on a life of its own and that he is excited to see people making their own memories with the brand.

“I feel like we're almost custodians of the brand now, and now that we're here, launching it, it feels kind of surreal, because it's like your kid going out into the world for the first time,” he said.

“People are going to have their own interactions with Black Emerald. They have their own memories they're going to create, and we're not going to be part of that, and that's a dream because it's alive then. We just feel like there's a lot of room internationally for Irish whiskey to get back to people, craic, and just the simplicity of a good whiskey in a bottle.”