A new Irish whiskey brand has been unveiled, fronted by its co-owner, Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Old Oak kicks off with two 40%-ABV blends, a three- and a five-year-old. The pair, the latter of which has been finished in ex-rum casks from Jamaica, are available from this week on the brand’s website at GBP34.95 [US$42.60] and GBP39.95, respectively, per 70cl bottle.
When contacted by Global Drinks Intel, a spokesperson for the company confirmed Van Damme is the brand’s “majority shareholder” with founders Kevin Carson and Ian Rowlands.
“I was looking for my own brand of whiskey, possibly an American bourbon and then one of my close friends and business associates asked ‘Why an American whiskey when you can go back to the roots of whiskey and find an Irish whiskey?’,” said Van Damme. “He then introduced me to the Old Oak whiskey label which had yet to be launched and had been put together by some whiskey aficionados in Ireland.”
The Belgian actor will also assume brand ambassador responsibilities for Old Oak, which sources its whiskey from “carefully selected” stock before finishing the liquid at its site in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
In 2021, Mixed Martial Arts fighter Conor McGregor sold a majority stake in his Proper No Twelve Irish whiskey brand to Proximo Spirits for a reported US$600m.
