Brand Odochartaigh

[Odochartaigh]

Dear All,

For many many years now I have always had an interest in whisky. I have always had a dream of walking into a bar somewhere in the world and there on the shelf was a bottle of my very own brand whisky. I have set my self a target of having my very own brand by the time I turn 40, where I release just one offering to the market each year. Therefore that gives me just over two years to get this off the ground.

The problem I have is that I thought it was as easy as collaborating with an already existing small brand where I buy a cask of them and bottle it and then make an arrangement with them to sell it through their outlets as a new collection, however it would appear it is not that simple, and there are many things that need to be in place before this could happen.

Would anyone have any information on what I would have to do or someone I could speak to in order to start my own brand and enable me to start the journey of bringing my dream to life.

Many thanks ,
Liam.

[James T]

If you bottle a quality whisky and not just any cask of whisky you can get your hands on then this will certainly help you when it comes to getting retailers to sell your whisky.

You could try to establish yourself online and sell the whisky yourself direct via your own website. Use social media to establish yourself, send out samples and get them reviewed and talked about, I am sure William who runs this site would be happy to review your whisky. If you sell direct via your own website to establish yourself, don't be greedy with the pricing and postage, bottle at a decent strength, cask strength is even better, non chill filtered and natural colour, clear age statements, all these things are sure to tempt whisky drinkers and help establish your own independent whisky brand/label.

[James T]

Just a thought, where are you based? Will the Odochartaig brand be an independent Irish whiskey or Scotch whisky brand and if you are in Ireland I would recommend waiting to see how Brexit pans out if you plan on selling in the UK as there may be some paper work and hurdles to get over in the future depending on how Brexit goes.

[Alexppp]

When you say brand, do you mean an independent bottler, like Signatory or Gordon & MacPhail?

[James T]

[Odochartaigh]

[Odochartaigh]

[Odochartaigh]

[eelbrook]

If you get a third-party to bottle for you, then all you'd need was a website.

The premises from which bottles were physically dispatched to customers would need a "premises licence" and you'd need a "personal licence" (a requirement of the "premises licence").

There are agencies who can guide you through licensing.

[Odochartaigh]