At the end of November Mark Reynier, owner of Renegade rum in Grenada and the man behind the revival of Islay’s Bruichladdich distillery, announced that Waterford Whisky had entered administration. Inside Irish whiskey circles there were murmurs of the brand’s struggles, but the news came as a shock to the wider industry given the brand’s strong reputation.
Reynier launched Waterford Whisky (without an E) in 2015 and it was distilling from an old Guinness brewery in the city of Waterford in the Republic of Ireland. As with his other projects, the whiskies were terroir-led, focusing on the influence of barley in the final spirit. And by all accounts it was popular within the trade – in 2024 it ranked number 44 in The World’s Most Admired Whiskies and featured in the top-trending list in the Brands Report for Irish whiskey. So, what went wrong?
Reynier has put much of it down to the financial implications of the pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis, but there are other learnings to be had.
Most new spirits brands develop a flagship product, one that represents the house style and can be recognised on back bars. At Waterford, there was a flurry of releases in a short time to showcase the nuances in its barley-led terroir, something which, on reflection, may have confused its own audience.
Following the news, Irish whiskey expert and brand consultant Mark McLaughlin said: “Creating an amazing brand, being bulletproof on your identity and releasing adventurous products isn’t enough to make the business a success. I have critiqued Waterford in the past for releasing too many products and arguably overcomplicating the importance of its terroir project. Regardless of this, its recent focus on cuveés has seen the release of some truly outstanding products.”
Reynier also cited a poor choice of distributor in the US, the biggest export market for Irish whiskey, as another reason for the brand’s decline. In response, McLaughlin added: “Through my work in the US I can attest to this. Your choice of distribution partner is vital to the success of your brand. You should be spending the time and whatever money you can doing market research, properly segmenting your potential markets and becoming laser-focused on your target partners. This should, in turn, feed into your positioning, allowing you then to set clear objectives for the business. I’m not saying that Waterford did or didn’t do this, I’m saying that other young brands/ businesses should.
“The lesson in that is, there are many brands popping up that don’t have an ounce of the originality, authenticity, transparency or outright beauty (in terms of brand execution) that Waterford had, and if I were those brands, I’d be incredibly worried about the future of my product. Even with an apparent failure, Waterford Distillery set a standard that should be aspired to.”
Waterford’s administration was not only sad for its cult fans, but a blow to the Irish whiskey sector as it was pushing boundaries and changing perceptions. The good news is that Reynier hasn’t given up, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the brand return in some guise in 2025.
