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Along with the rest of the Irish whiskey cat- egory, the Bushmills portfolio is also seeing increased sales. Wayne Hartunian, vice president of whiskies and Cognac at Pernod Ricard USA. Additionally, in February Pernod Ricard USA will debut a new expression of Redbreast, a 12-year-old cask strength whiskey. "With rel- atively minimal support over the years, Redbreast has been growing organically," noted Hartunian. "There is definitely a base of fans out there and that's expanding." For Tullamore Dew, 2011 marked the first year under new owner William Grant & Sons, Ltd. "As a broad-based spirit company, we desired to have an Irish whiskey in the portfolio because it's a very fast-growing category and complements our overall strategy," said Shane Hoyne, Tullamore Dew global brand director. "Tullamore Dew provided the perfect mix of a brand that is currently very successful with a strong base that had commercial market opportunities for William Grant. It is also a brand that we believed would have significant upside in the future," added Hoyne. To support its acquisition, William Grant rolled out a multi-million dollar glob- al communications investment in the brand late last fall. Among the plans that William Grant has for its acquisition are the introduction of some premium expressions of Tullamore Dew over the next few years and the development of the 1800s distillery and barrel warehouse in Tullamore town into a visitors center. New, more modern and contemporary packaging has also been designed, slated to appear on shelves in July. Appearing on the market this past year from Sidney Frank Importing Co. was a new expression of Michael Collins, a 10-year-old Single Malt, which is double-distilled in copper pot stills, from both malted barley and peated malted barley and matured in bourbon casks for a minimum of 10 years. Michael Collins Blended Irish Whiskey also boasts a new packaging design. Named for the legendary Irish independence hero, the new label features an iconic image of Collins on a bicycle, the Gaelic saying, "Is maith an scealaí an aimsir," meaning "time is a great story teller," and a note that the spirit is double distilled. The ever-innovating Cooley Distillery has released a number of new expressions of its four core brands, includ- ing the The Tryconnell in Sherry, Port and Madeira finish- es as well as Kilbeggan 18-Year-Old and Greenore 18-Year- Old, imported by Sazerac. Cooley is also experimenting with batches of poteen (Irish moonshine) and a Connemara whiskey, matured in a cask with the barrel ends made from 24 bog oak, wood that's been petrified for thousands of years. Growing Up Strong A ll this innovation wouldn't be possible without strong category growth. Certainly the catego- ry's major players are bullish on Irish and are betting on continuing expansion. "For the past few years, Irish whiskey has been the fastest-growing spirits category, and that growth rate is accelerating," declared Hartunian at Pernod Ricard USA. The company's contender, Jameson is the category leader, at about 1.2 million cases. Hartunian cites Nielson research, noting that according to the latest 52-week data, Irish whiskey growth is up 21%. "That's a huge increase," he continued. "It is a small category compared to vodka or rum but because it has been growing so fast for such a long time, it has about doubled in size over the past four years. So the category is getting to critical mass, and it is one of the key drivers of growth for the industry, driving overall growth. The scale is starting to make an impact." Two other Pernod Ricard Irish brands are also faring well. Redbreast, a pure pot still Irish Redbreast is due to release a new 12 Year Old cask strength whiskey in February. whiskey has been winning a number of accolades and fans. Hartunian cites Nielsen data for the past 12 months indicating the Redbreast brand's volume has increased 47% over the previous period. "The growth has been organic, with minimal marketing support." The company's Powers Irish Whiskey is also growing decently without much support; it's up 11%. "For any brand to be growing with such minimal support, especially in this market, is pretty impressive," declared Hartunian, who believes there is a lot of poten- tial for additional growth for both brands. "In general we are really optimistic about the cate- gory and the brand," affirmed Yvonne Briese marketing director for Diageo North American Whisky and Irish. The company's entrant is Bushmills, which grew 3% over the fiscal year ending June 30. "The brand's been growing, and we see lots of opportunities in the market." "All indicators point to a good year for the category, that double-digit growth will continue," concurred Hoyne, Tullamore Dew global brand director. "We are happy with the performance of Tullamore Dew; it has exceeded our expectations in the first year fully owning the brand." Driving Growth T here are many theories as to what is driving the growth of the Irish whiskey segment, including inherent category momentum, increased investment, marketing campaigns StateWays s www.stateways.com s January/February 2012