Sir, – Frank McNally (An Irishman’s Diary, May 31st) claimed the demise of the Kilbeggan distillery mirrored “the fortunes of Irish distilling in general”. He suggested the dominant position of Irish whiskey over Scotch was squandered by a series of misfortunes and misjudgments.
I would have put it down to poor marketing of a fine product that already had a head start with the sale of Irish coffee in every cafe, bar and restaurant throughout the world. I wish I had a Jameson for every time I complained about them using Scotch in the coffee. Most of them were not even aware we distilled whiskey. – Yours, etc,