Heaven Hill sells Irish Mist liqueur to Dublin's Old Canal Quay Spirits

Heaven Hill has agreed to sell the Irish Mist liqueur brand to The Old Canal Quay Spirits Company, a privately held Dublin business founded in 2024 with no long trading record behind it. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal covers Zilorto Limited, a Heaven Hill Ireland subsidiary that owns the Irish Mist name.

Irish Mist was created in 1947 at the Tullamore distillery in County Offaly and was the first commercially produced liqueur made in Ireland. It combines Irish whiskey, honey and spices. Campari Group bought the brand from William Grant & Sons in 2010.

Campari then sold it to Heaven Hill in 2017, alongside Carolans Irish Cream Liqueur, in a deal worth US$165 million for the two brands. That figure puts the Irish Mist sale's undisclosed price in the context of what the pair changed hands for.

Allan Latts, co-president of Heaven Hill Brands, framed the disposal as a portfolio decision. He said: "As we invest behind our premium portfolio, this decision reflects the disciplined thinking that guides how we approach every brand in our lineup."

Latts added: "Irish Mist is an iconic Irish liqueur, and the right move is placing it in the hands of an owner with Irish roots and the focus to grow it the way it deserves." The buyer brings exactly that Irish provenance to the brand.

Old Canal Quay's chief executive is David Phelan, who led Hinch Distillery in Northern Ireland and later ran global travel retail for Proximo Spirits. He is a co-founder of Darker Still Spirits, Scion Spirits and Castle Brands. His history with Irish Mist goes back decades.

Phelan worked with Irish Mist in 1985, when he was an area manager in Clonmel, County Tipperary. The connection gives the acquisition a personal arc for its new owner. He said the liqueur "was at the core of Ireland's rich spirits history."

He said he is "honoured and excited to now play a role in reinvigorating this iconic Irish brand for today's consumer." Old Canal Quay cautioned that some markets may see a temporary pause in activity during the ownership transition, a standard note for a handover of this kind.

Phelan has assembled a group of industry figures around the deal. His LinkedIn post names Patrick J Rigney, founder of The Shed Distillery of PJ Rigney, home of Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin, as one of the colleagues joining him on the venture.

Tom Cleary, owner of Dublin's Temple Bar and The Whiskey Reserve, is also on board, along with John Dunn, US partner and managing director of Blue Ridge Spirits & Wine Marketing in Atlanta, Georgia. The names span Ireland and the American distribution side.

Who the buyer is

Founded last year, it has no long trading record behind it, which makes the Irish Mist acquisition its defining move. Buying a liqueur with a 1947 heritage gives the newcomer an established brand to build around rather than one to launch.

Irish Mist is in a small field. Irish cream liqueurs such as Carolans and Baileys dominate the country's liqueur category, while honey and whiskey blends occupy a narrower shelf. The brand's founder-era claim as Ireland's first commercial liqueur is its principal distinction.

A liqueur rooted in Tullamore distillery history carries more than a recipe; it carries a place. County Offaly is where the spirit was first bottled, and that origin story is precisely the heritage an Irish buyer is positioned to sell, where an American owner might treat it as a line item.

What the sale changes

Heaven Hill took Irish Mist on as part of a two-brand purchase and is now narrowing to its premium portfolio. The Kentucky-based distiller keeps its whiskey-led lineup and sheds a liqueur that sits outside it. The seller's own framing treats the move as discipline, not distress.

For the brand, the shift from a multinational's subsidiary to an independent Dublin owner resets its marketing. Phelan's language about reinvigorating the name for today's consumer sets an expectation of relaunch work, though neither side has put a timeline or an investment figure on it.

The temporary market pause Old Canal Quay flagged suggests the handover is not invisible to buyers. Distributors in affected markets will see supply interrupt as ownership transfers, a practical cost of the deal that the companies disclosed rather than concealed.

With Rigney, Cleary and Dunn attached, the buyer has distribution and trade expertise to carry the brand into both home and export markets. Dunn's Atlanta-based Blue Ridge business points toward the American route, where an Irish liqueur competes against established cream and honey names.

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