What you need to know

The whiskey and dark rum sectors in Ireland have enjoyed an increased level of usage – particularly among younger consumers and Irish women, as many top brands make greater efforts to broaden their appeal.

Moving forward, with consumers still somewhat more likely to drink at home, this will make targeting consumers via the off-trade key to growing the overall revenue levels of the whiskey and dark rums industry.

Issues covered in this report

This report looks at sales of whiskey and dark rums only and does not examine usage of white spirits. The following channels of distribution are examined within the Market Size and Forecast section of this report:

  • On-trade – refers to any licensed establishment that allows the sale and consumption of alcohol to occur on the premises. Beverages are usually served in a ready-to-drink fashion and cannot be taken off the premises for consumption later. It is acknowledged that some on-trade establishments also offer off-trade sales, with these sales considered separately from on-trade sales.

  • Off-trade – refers to any licensed establishment that legally sells alcohol for off-premises consumption.

This report covers only whiskey and dark rums (refers to beverages of 15% ABV or more), including the following spirit types:

  • Whiskey – is a spirit distilled from malted barley or other grain and typically aged in oak casks, which is produced in many parts of the world. In practice, however, the only whiskeys sold in significant quantities in the UK market are those produced in Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the US. Large quantities are produced in Japan, but Japanese whisky has only a niche presence in the UK market. The spelling ‘whisky’ is sometimes restricted to Scotch, whether blended or single malt, but is used in this report as a generic term for the category as a whole.

The most common types of US whiskey are bourbon whiskey (made from at least 51% corn [maize]), rye whiskey (made from at least 51% rye) and corn whiskey (made from a mash made up of at least 80% corn [maize]). In this report the term bourbon is used to refer to all whiskey made in the US.

To carry the name ‘Scotch’ on a label, whisky must be distilled and matured in Scotland and conform to various regulations under The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 legislation.

  • Rum – is distilled from molasses or sugar cane juice, mainly in the Caribbean, although it is possible to produce it in almost any climate where sugar cane is planted. Official statistics make no distinction as to the colouring of rum, which may be achieved by the addition of caramel.

Both the trade and consumers have, however, traditionally regarded dark and white rum as very distinct drinks. The latter is excluded from this report. Golden rums have, again by tradition, been regarded as a sub-sector of the dark rum market by the trade, and Mintel has continued to follow this. Spiced golden rums are therefore included in this report.

Consumer drinking habits as well as their attitudes towards whiskey and dark rum are examined in this report.

This report does not measure or examine other forms of alcohol or non-alcoholic beverages or non-alcoholic retailing apart from in terms of a competitor market.

In compiling this report, Mintel has gathered data from separate NI and RoI sources (eg NISRA (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and CSO (Central Statistics Office)). In some cases, therefore, it has not been possible to provide comparable data for each region.

For the purposes of this report:

  • Ireland refers to the island of Ireland.

  • NI refers to Northern Ireland.

  • RoI refers to the Republic of Ireland.

  • Therefore, ‘Irish consumers’ refers to both NI and RoI consumers.

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