Irish whiskey sales up 21% on last year but small producers hit by glass bottles and malt harms shortages

Despite headwinds, the Irish Whiskey Association predicts strong growth in 2022 despite loss of all Russian and most Ukrainian sales. Photograph: iStock Global sales of Irish whiskey are expected to grow this year by more than 10 per cent in volume despite the loss of almost all sales to Russia, which accounted for more than 5 per cent of the market before the war in Ukraine, according to industry figures. The Irish Whiskey Association (IWA), the sector's lobbying division in employers group Ibec, says global sales in 2021 reached a record 14 million cases (168 million bottles), a rise of…