Sales of key brands The Irishman and Writers’ Tears have doubled in Eastern Europe over the past four years.

It has now appointed Global Wine & Spirits to distribute its brands in Czech Republic, iDrinks in Hungary, Azza in Azerbaijan, Servisbytsnab in Belarus and Drunk Octopus in Georgia.

MV Group has also signed up as the firm’s distributor for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, meaning the Walsh Whisky brands are now distributed in 15 countries across the region.

Simple has distributed the brands in Russia for several years, while they are also sold in Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Kazakhstan.

Walsh Whiskey has also appointed Oleg Prokopchuk, a Dubai-based Russian national with Ukrainian heritage, as its new international commercial manager.

Bernard Walsh, co-founder and managing director at Walsh Whisky, said: “We have built our position in Eastern Europe consistently over the last decade and our sales have doubled in the last 4 years. Russia, is now our third largest market globally.

“Our goal is for The Irishman and Writers’ Tears to outperform the strong growth of super-premium Irish whiskey as a category worldwide. We are achieving that performance internationally with the eastern European region a key driver.

“Over four years, our whiskeys have enjoyed a compound annual growth rate of 17% in the region as-a-whole, while achieving a healthy 27% CAGR in the three largest markets – Russia, Ukraine and Poland.”

On top of the expansion into Eastern Europe, Walsh Whiskey has also appointed Berry Bros. & Rudd Brands as its eclusive distributor for the UK from 1 April.