2 weeks Ago By Irishexaminer.com
MY JOB Name : Simon Zebo Occupation : Co-founder, Black Emerald Irish Whiskey Background : Black Emerald is targeting the fastest-growing international Irish whiskey markets, particularly Nigeria and South Africa. He may have hung up his Munster and Ireland rugby boots, but Simon Zebo still bounces with the obvious energy of someone still very familiar with the running track and fitness centre. As part of the team behind Black Emerald Irish Whiskey, due to be launched early next year, the former full-back and winger is now fully focused on a commercial game — raising €1m funding through the Employment Investment Incentive Scheme.
“When you’re a sports person at a certain level, you get pitched a lot of different commercial ventures by all sorts of people, but nothing ever really got my interest until the idea for Black Emerald came along,“ he explained. His father, Arthur, was part of the reason this venture appealed so much: “Dad was a well-known collector — himself and his best friend Liam O’Reilly were serious whiskey people, travelled all around Scotland and Ireland for rare bottles.” The pair had one of the biggest whiskey collections in the country and even featured on an episode of Nationwide back in the day.
“Our house was well accustomed to people calling around for a dram and a chat. An appreciation of fine whiskey was always around.” Simon adds his father’s excellent review of Black Emerald was key to him being part of the company: “My dad is a dedicated whiskey person, and I knew he would tell it like it is.
His outright approval of Black Emerald was very important right from the start,” he adds. Fast forward a few decades and Black Emerald was born over a shared glass of whiskey, and a conversation on Ireland’s evolving identity. Partnering with Ernest Cantillon, co-founder of the Kinsale Spirit Company, and Finian Sedgwick, a veteran of the global spirits industry, the trio aimed to create a product reflecting the modernity of Ireland and the versatility of single grain whiskey.
We wanted to craft a whiskey that mirrors Ireland today — a small nation with a huge global impact. It’s a blend of traditional and international influences. Kinsale Spirit Co, maker of the Battle of Kinsale series, including the Red Earl, the Great Earl single grain, the Spanish Earl single malt and the Wild Atlantic Irish whiskeys.
The company is well established, exporting its award-winning brands to Europe, China, the USA and the Gulf. Designed to bring a modern approach to whiskey, Black Emerald is targeting the fastest-growing international Irish whiskey markets, namely Nigeria and South Africa. “Both countries have huge potential.
South Africa is the fifth biggest market for Irish whiskey, and Nigeria just went into the top 10 last year. These countries are no longer fringe markets, they are now places whose consumers know what they want. Nigeria is the fastest growing market for Irish whiskey, bar none, and joins South Africa in showing tremendous opportunity for a product like ours.
” In addition, Nigeria will be one of the most populous countries in the world by 2050, and with an emerging middle class. “The culture and society of both Nigeria and South Africa have much in common with Ireland — they both love socialising around food, they are places very much into their music, and both are extremely friendly and informal. "In fact, both countries don’t feel that different to Ireland in terms of business and socialising.
It is a market already very receptive to Irish whiskey, and Black Emerald will be guaranteed a very warm welcome there.” Aged in rum and cognac barrels, the whiskey draws inspiration from Ireland’s connections with the wider world. Freed from what was once the weekly grind of exercise, tactics and a constant striving for ever higher levels of performance in his former sporting career, Simon aims to bring the same level of enthusiasm to Black Emerald he so previously displayed for Munster and Ireland.
“It’s a process of constant learning for me at the moment, looking to the experience of Ernest and Finian for guidance and finding my most effective role in the company. It does help to have a degree of recognition in terms of media exposure and getting the message out to the general public.” Having spent such a lengthy section of his life dedicated to a team ethos and its sporting ambitions, fitting into the albeit smaller commercial team of Black Emerald has been a natural progression: I never did anything outside of rugby during my playing career, I didn’t want anything to distract from winning games and being the best you could be.
Now I’m supercharged and excited to be part of this new venture, and being as dedicated to making this the business success that it can be. While there is currently no recognised secondary market for cask whiskey, the venture has already underlined its commercial prospects in being selected by Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-up Fund. At a time when people are looking for secure investments, whiskey represents an accessible asset valued across the globe, according to Ernest Cantillon, adding whiskey is a tangible investment that people can relate to.
Investors may qualify for Employment Investment Incentive Scheme relief on investments into both Black Emerald and LYQD Cask Exchange, ensuring 50% of their investment back after 12 months in the form of a tax refund, while still maintaining 100% of their initial investment in the company. While the global reach of Irish whiskey has been underlined in recent times through the success of Jameson in multiple international markets, its value as an investment was underlined earlier this year when a bottle of The Emerald Isle triple-distilled Irish single malt whiskey sold for €2.6m to American collector Mike Daley.
The price surpassed that of the previous record holder, a bottle of Macallan 1926, which fetched $2.7m at an auction held by Sotheby's in November 2023. “The rebirth of Irish whiskey is relatively new, so I feel like I’m getting in on the ground floor,” Daley explained.
“Scotch, to me, is already a crowded type of market — but we’re only just starting to see luxury Irish make a name for itself. I guarantee you that in the years to come, Irish is the future of whiskey.”.
