Cooley Distillery

The president and chief executive of Beam Inc has been singing the praise of the Cooley Distillery, which it acquired at the end of 2011.

In his first public comment since the takeover, Matt Shattock told a press conference call how the American drinks giant are looking forward to getting the best out of Cooley’s “unique assets”.

The Irish Times quotes him as saying: “We are very excited about the acquisition of Cooley. By leveraging our portfolio and distribution network, we will expand and strengthen these brands, led by Kilbeggan, in key markets across North America and Europe.”

Beam paid $95 million to buy up Cooley, at the time the sole Irish whiskey distillery still in independent hands.

Cooley’s Irish whiskey brands joined Beam’s portfolio, which already included the Jim Beam and Maker’s mark bourbons, as well as Teacher’s and Laphroaig.