John O’Donovan – Irish Whiskey’s Global Retailer

When we think of the Irish whiskey industry in Ireland it’s easy to visualize copper-pot filled distillery buildings and floor to ceiling barrels of maturing whiskey in the best smelling warehouses on earth, but in doing so we might overlook the vital businesses that support the distilleries and the brands. For every whiskey business, there are hundreds of ancillary businesses that, working together, help us get the whiskey into our glass wherever we are in the world.

One of these businesses is IrishMalts, an online spirits retailer founded in 2018 by two brothers from Cork. You see, the story’s already good!

Robert and John O’Donovan have been busy supporting the growth of Irish whiskey since founding their business, finding ways to make it easier for smaller whiskey companies to list products for sale and distribution, and by offering a service that not only helps distilleries and brands sell their products more easily but by getting that product into customer’s hands and bellies around the world faster.

I’m always fascinated by a good origin story and love hearing the back story of how businesses were started so I was thrilled to chat this week with IrishMalts cofounder John O’Donovan about whiskey, taking risks and Cork!