An Gael Irish Whiskey Co is very pleased to announce a two-year deal with Glasgow Celtic FC for the 2026/27 & 2027/28 seasons for its Spirit of the Celts brand.
Spirit of the Celts – the premium blended Irish whiskey from An Gael – will be available online and in Celtic FC Superstore as official merchandise of Celtic FC in time for the kick-off of the new season on 3 August. The deal is global in scale, and whiskey consumers and Celtic supporters alike will be able to purchase the brand in Ireland, the UK, the US, Canada and Australia in the first expression.
Co-founders Michael Morris, Brano Pajer and Rory O Donnell were very enthusiastic about the breakthrough deal for their Irish whiskey company.
Speaking ahead of the official launch of the An Gael brand and the unveiling of the Spirit of the Celts collaboration with Celtic FC, Michael Morris was effusive in his praise for both the club and his company’s brand.
“In football parlance,” he said, “I’m ‘over the moon’, and I’m both humble and proud that we have secured a deal with one of the most iconic and best supported football clubs on the planet. With hundreds of thousands of supporters worldwide, we will be working hard through our distributor network to sell a bottle of our Spirit of the Celts to every one of those supporters and whiskey lovers.
“We have a high-quality blend right out of the gate available in August for the start of the season, but we will also have a specially selected Spirit of the Celts eight-year-old single ,alt coming out this side of Christmas, with every one of the 1,888 limited edition bottles numbered. Our plan, in agreement with Celtic FC, is to release limited-edition bottles to celebrate past and future successes for the team.”
The announcement comes ahead of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the famous ‘Lisbon Lions’ side that won the European Cup in 1967. The Spirit of the Celts brand perfectly connects that glorious past with the future ambitions of the famous club.
Michael Morris has a very personal connection to this partnership as it combines his lifelong love of Celtic FC and his life’s work in the Irish whiskey industry. “I’ve been a lifelong supporter of Glasgow Celtic,” he said. “To have positioned our brand in perfect alignment with the club I love is really a thing of beauty.”
Celtic FC has always had strong links to Ireland, with its own name being chosen at the time of its inception in November 1887 by Sligo-born Irish Marist Brother Walfrid to reflect the club’s Scottish and Irish roots. Celtic FC describes the club’s identity as being “shaped as a Scottish Club with Irish roots”.
As An Gael Irish Whiskey gets its name from the ancient warrior people, An Gael, who once lived on Irish and Scottish lands and defended Celtic tribes, the link between The Spirit of the Celts and Celtic FC reflects a long-standing and important connection between Scotland and Ireland.
A spokesperson from Celtic FC wished the An Gael team a successful launch in Belfast and looked forward to making Spirit of the Celts a successful addition to the officially licensed brands working with the club.
The team at An Gael celebrated this exciting deal with friends, family, and industry colleagues at the Dark Horse Pub in Belfast City Centre on Thursday night with tastings, music and craic.
The Spirit of the Celts Blend will retail at GBP48 (US$64), and the 60th Anniversary Single Malt will be GBP67 and limited to the numbered bottles.
