Paddy's Back
I've agitated -- albeit very mildly -- in this blog for trying to get Paddy available in America. I use Paddy as an Irish whiskey recruitment tool of sorts, as a way to ease newbies into the uisce world and to expand their whiskey drinking horizons. It's worked wonderfully for that. But I've had to be a bit stingy and selective about offering it as the low-fuel light was showing on the one and only bottle that I picked up at Dublin Duty Free in 2008.
But two fresh new bottles of the stuff arrived at my house recently. They were purchased at their regular price of about $18 each vs. the $40-ish you pay if ordering online. Now before you get all excited and start asking "Where!? Where!?", I should say that the acquisition method is a more appropriate as a dubious topic for the Journal of Irreproducible Results (JIR) than a reliable way for us craic-seeking uiscephiles to get our punch.
Technically speaking, you can buy Paddy in the U.S. -- the standard 1-litre bottle for $18 -- so long as you're on your way out of the country. In other words, you have to make a stop at the Duty Free at a U.S. Airport. Then you have to get it back home, of course. A globe-trotting brother of mine made a stopover at Detroit on his way from Japan back to his home in Montreal. A driving visit to me in the Boston area resulted in two bottles of Paddy on my kitchen table.
Now, I know you're thinking, "Geez, Rich, that's feckin' brilliant! And incredibly helpful in my quest to procure Paddy here in the good ol' USofA. NOT!" And you'd be right to think that. As I said, it's fodder for my prospective JIR article. Though I'd probably have to include some references to laminar and turbulent flow, the adiabatic lapse rate, thrust-drag and weight-lift ratios, turbine efficiency and -- aw, what the hell -- the multiverse hypothesis for the publication to even consider it. But I digress.
The good news is that I now have two bottles of Paddy to use in my insidious efforts to expand the appreciation of Irish whiskey in the U.S. The bad news is that my brother has moved back to the States. Well, it's good he's back, but the whole wacky way we got Paddy really is irreproducible now. Other good news, in its way, is that now I have to start planning my next trip to Ireland to do all of the Ireland things I want to do, including a Duty Free stop on the way home. I owe my wife a visit to Italy first, but that's another story.
And now that I have a couple of litres of Paddy around the house, I'm still not drinking very much of it, or very often, at all. Fact is, with all of the other whiskeys here -- and some really good ones at that -- some of Paddy's appeal has waned for me. Now don't get me wrong. I like Paddy, especially with a whiskey recruit and a pint or two or three or so of stout. But for whiskey drinking, I'm likely to grab something else. But I think that this further supports my gateway-whiskey theory. Paddy gets people engaged, curious and appreciative of more and other whiskeys. My experience also supports the sentiment from some of my fellow whiskey drinkers that Paddy is the equivalent of a barley-based vodka or everclear. Paddy's smoothness -- the result of its low pot still content -- is both its strength and its weakness.
My mild Paddy agitation also included formation of a Facebook group called "Get Paddy to America!" It's more of a social media experiment than anything else. It has attracted a small but dedicated cadre of 54 members since January. But I think that thus far I've only proved the standard marketing communications wisdom that unsupported communications efforts don't do that well. I'd have to give that Group some energy and leadership if we want it to be more than one hand clapping, or one lip drinking depending on how you look at it.
There are some suggestions for getting Paddy in the U.S. both from Sláinte readers (check out the comments) and on the Facebook page.
How're you doing out there, all you Paddy-ites?
But two fresh new bottles of the stuff arrived at my house recently. They were purchased at their regular price of about $18 each vs. the $40-ish you pay if ordering online. Now before you get all excited and start asking "Where!? Where!?", I should say that the acquisition method is a more appropriate as a dubious topic for the Journal of Irreproducible Results (JIR) than a reliable way for us craic-seeking uiscephiles to get our punch.
Technically speaking, you can buy Paddy in the U.S. -- the standard 1-litre bottle for $18 -- so long as you're on your way out of the country. In other words, you have to make a stop at the Duty Free at a U.S. Airport. Then you have to get it back home, of course. A globe-trotting brother of mine made a stopover at Detroit on his way from Japan back to his home in Montreal. A driving visit to me in the Boston area resulted in two bottles of Paddy on my kitchen table.
Now, I know you're thinking, "Geez, Rich, that's feckin' brilliant! And incredibly helpful in my quest to procure Paddy here in the good ol' USofA. NOT!" And you'd be right to think that. As I said, it's fodder for my prospective JIR article. Though I'd probably have to include some references to laminar and turbulent flow, the adiabatic lapse rate, thrust-drag and weight-lift ratios, turbine efficiency and -- aw, what the hell -- the multiverse hypothesis for the publication to even consider it. But I digress.
The good news is that I now have two bottles of Paddy to use in my insidious efforts to expand the appreciation of Irish whiskey in the U.S. The bad news is that my brother has moved back to the States. Well, it's good he's back, but the whole wacky way we got Paddy really is irreproducible now. Other good news, in its way, is that now I have to start planning my next trip to Ireland to do all of the Ireland things I want to do, including a Duty Free stop on the way home. I owe my wife a visit to Italy first, but that's another story.
And now that I have a couple of litres of Paddy around the house, I'm still not drinking very much of it, or very often, at all. Fact is, with all of the other whiskeys here -- and some really good ones at that -- some of Paddy's appeal has waned for me. Now don't get me wrong. I like Paddy, especially with a whiskey recruit and a pint or two or three or so of stout. But for whiskey drinking, I'm likely to grab something else. But I think that this further supports my gateway-whiskey theory. Paddy gets people engaged, curious and appreciative of more and other whiskeys. My experience also supports the sentiment from some of my fellow whiskey drinkers that Paddy is the equivalent of a barley-based vodka or everclear. Paddy's smoothness -- the result of its low pot still content -- is both its strength and its weakness.
My mild Paddy agitation also included formation of a Facebook group called "Get Paddy to America!" It's more of a social media experiment than anything else. It has attracted a small but dedicated cadre of 54 members since January. But I think that thus far I've only proved the standard marketing communications wisdom that unsupported communications efforts don't do that well. I'd have to give that Group some energy and leadership if we want it to be more than one hand clapping, or one lip drinking depending on how you look at it.
There are some suggestions for getting Paddy in the U.S. both from Sláinte readers (check out the comments) and on the Facebook page.
How're you doing out there, all you Paddy-ites?
Wait, you mean to tell me they have Paddy's at the duty free in Detroit? So if you fly from Detroit to, say, Jamaica, you can buy a bottle as long as you remember to pack it up on your return trip? Because I have friends that fly through Detroit...
We need maybe some compendium for where you can get Paddy's and Green Spot in the States.
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It's true, and I guess you could do it that way so long as you didn't have to pay much in entry duty wherever you're going before heading home. I'll put a post up requesting places for getting Green Spot, Paddy and others. Great idea!
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Does anyone know why Paddy isn't distributed in the States? It has a good reputation and has been around for awhile. The variety of Irish Whiskey available in the USA has grown impressively over the past several years. So why no Paddy? It makes me think there's some silly politics or something like that involved. Maybe it's the conspiracy theorist in me. It could simply be that no distributor thinks its worth the trouble to import it. On the other hand, there weren't any Facebook groups clamoring for Clontarf or Feckin, but we have that. Hmmmm (Scratching chin thoughtfully).
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Good question, Patrick. My guess is that's it's more likely mundane business logic than intrigue that's keeping Paddy away. I think that Paddy occupies a place in the product line that relegates it to the domestic Irish and Duty Free channels. Pernod Ricard seems to be focusing more on the higher-margin and more competitive premium whiskeys -- RVR, Gold Reserve, and the 18- and 12-year-olds. I'd say Midleton too but it it's nearly invisible in the marketing sense -- maybe it does fine without the added support. They also are doing quite a lot more in promotion and advertising of their flagship Jameson "standard." And it could be too that they don't want Paddy to cannibalize Jameson sales. Again, without any direct insight into the marketing I'm guessing at that. As far as distributors go, I think that they would sell both what's available and what generates profit. There may be other mundane and even more arcane tax and other considerations driving the distribution decisions.
I don't know if a solution as simple as increased demand alone would work. On the other hand, substantial and growing demand for it might prompt reconsideration. Question is, how do we organize enough meaningful demand to get their attention. (Facebook is just one tool). It CAN be done with enough time and energy. Maybe we -- all of us together and individually and in a concerted way -- need to start by simply asking them directly (!?). I think "organize" is the operative word. And who knows, maybe they're cooking something already.
I think Paddy as a gateway whiskey has a place in the U.S. market that can actually drive sales and generate incremental increases in market share of the broader product line. There are a staggering number of Scotch selections here at all price points. Even if Irish whiskey were to have a third of the presence that Scotch does in U.S. retail space and mindshare we (Irish whiskey producers, distributors and consumers) would be doing fabulously well.
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Came across a blog (irishwhiskeynotes.com) that sheds some light on the Paddy situation. Better to read it for yourself, but the gist is that Pernod Ricard bought Irish Distillers (IDL) in 1988, which gave them the 3 flagship whiskies: Jameson, Powers, and Paddy. Pernod Ricard decided to push Jameson as the top brand. Powers and Paddy fell off in popularity (the blog is based in Ireland but the tale seems the same in America). I'm deducing that Pernod may not be too keen on bringing Paddy to the USA because it might shoot a hole in the market share of Jameson, and to a lesser extent, Powers. I could go on at length as to why this is a poor approach, but I'll leave my railing to one point. If Pernod Ricard focused their marketing efforts more broadly and effectively, they could create an environment where many Irish whiskies could compete without cannibalizing each other.
Like I've said before, 35-40 million people of Irish descent in the USA, and that's just your baseline as a marketer. You start with that and go from there. No reason why Irish whiskey can't be as big as Scotch or Bourbon in this country.
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No reason why Irish whiskey can't be as big as Scotch or Bourbon in this country.
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Wow!, this was a real quality post. In theory I'd like to write like this too - taking time and real effort to make a good article... but what can I say... I keep putting it off and never seem to get something done.
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I bought some Paddy at the liquor store here in Richmond, VA. It's pretty tasty. My Irish friends brought a bottle from Ireland and we tried them side-by-side and they were completely different. The Irish version was much smoother. Even people that don't drink whiskey could tell that there was a huge difference.
The import was good, but now I'm really hoping to get my hands on another bottle of the Irish version.
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