The last time I wrote about St Patrick’s Day was almost seven years ago, and having recently revisited that article, I realised that a lot has changed in the Irish beverage industry since 2012, most notably in the Irish whiskey category.

Back in 2012, I wrote: “Ireland currently has only three major distilleries producing its 30 brands or so of different whiskies – Bushmills, Cooley and Midleton (which produces one of the country’s best-selling brands, Jameson)”.