Cooley’s and Jameson ready for St Patrick’s Day

Beam Inc., the new owners of Cooley’s the Irish whiskey brand, says it has signaled its intent to build the Kilbeggan brand in the US by importing the largest case shipment ever of the blended whiskey for the St Patrick’s Day (March 17) celebrations this weekend.

Beam says the shipment of Kilbeggan represents more than a twenty-fold increase in the number of cases being exported to the US specifically for this time period.

The shipment will be distributed to 28 States including New York, California, Illinois, Maryland, Kentucky, Texas, Nevada, Hawaii and Washington DC. Following March, distribution will be extended to 50 states.

Stephen Teeling, senior global brand manager, Irish whiskey at Beam, said, “This is the largest single order Cooley has filled in the company’s 25-year history. Beam is the second largest spirits company in the US and as part of the Beam family, Cooley is benefitting from its ability to distribute and market brands quickly and on a large scale. We expect to ship more Kilbeggan to the US in March 2012 than the total that was shipped in all of 2011 for all four Cooley brands.”

Cooley whiskeys will be featured at a number of US events over the St Patrick’s festival weekend. The Cooley portfolio of brands will be exclusively served at the Irish Ambassador’s reception in Washington DC on March 20, and a special presentation will be made to An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD the day before at the Enterprise Ireland lunch also taking place in Washington. 

Beam will officially launch Kilbeggan, as well as the Connemara, Tyrconnell and Greenore Irish Whiskey brands, at a number of trade shows over the St Patrick’s weekend including Spirits Confidential and the US Bar and Nightclub Awards both taking place in Las Vegas. The brands will also be featured at Whiskey Fest in Chicago.

Jameson is launching a new special edition bottle for St Patrick’s Day throughout European Travel Retail with six activations planned at key international hubs.

Produced by designer Paul Daly, who counts Oswald Boateng and U2 among his clients, the bottle is said to reflect the heritage of the brand on a day which is celebrated internationally. The major activations will be in situ throughout March.

The bottle has been inspired by illustrations from The Book of Kells, a medieval manuscript which is thought to be the muse of modern Celtic art. An important part of Irish history, the book remains in the city of Jameson’s origin; Dublin.

Bars will be installed in key high-traffic areas where customers will be offered ‘Shamrock’ cocktails and the full range of Jameson. 

There will also be support for retailers throughout Europe, Russia and the Nordic regions with branded point of sale material and minor activities.