It’s Muff at the Top as Liquor Goes Stateside
The Donegal-born, bred and distilled Muff Liquor Company is surely toasting its financial success, with the firm’s recently filed balance sheet for 2023 hovering just under the million euro mark.
The homegrown distillery brand, founded by local woman Laura Bonner near Muff on the Inishowen peninsula in 2017, is a celebrity tipple favourite. It is backed by a host of famous names, including musician Ed Sheeran and actor Russell Crowe.
The strategy appears to be working. The most recent accounts for the year ending 2023 show the company had a total equity of €991,014, up just over 6% on the previous year.
This included cash in the bank of €554,481, debtors of €405,415 and stocks totalling €76,213.
The company made a profit of €59,502 in the financial year and had accumulated profits of €307,221. Its staff count remained steady, at 20.
The drinks company is also on the cusp of expanding into the US market. Last month it announced that it had secured a large distribution deal with Lucas Bols, a global drinks giant.
The Dutch group will have exclusive rights to import and distribute Muff ’s whiskey, vodka and gin products in the US, a key market for the drinks industry.
The agreement adds Muff Liquor’s products to Lucas Bols’s range, including its own-brand liqueurs,
Damrak gin and Galliano liqueur.
Beginning in October, Lucas Bols said it would work with Muff Liquor’s executive team “to establish and distribute the brand in the US with a comprehensive sales and marketing strategy, also leveraging the involvement of its celebrity investors”.
And it seems Muff ’s marketing move to entice a broad spectrum of celebrities to endorse its drinks was a canny strategy.
Last year, celebrities including Crowe, Sheeran, Jimmy Carr and Ronan Keating pumped about €750,000 into the company in an investment round as it charted a course towards US expansion.
In a statement, the Muff founder said she was thrilled to expand into the US market with Lucas Bols.
“We share an entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to heritage that has been woven into The Muff Liquor Company story since my grandfather introduced me to poitín many years ago,” Bonner said.
“We are incredibly proud of what The Muff Liquor Company has achieved in just six years, and we cannot wait to see what lies ahead in our newfound partnership with Lucas Bols.”
Brett Dunne, managing director at Lucas Bols USA, said Irish spirits were a “perfect fit” with the group’s cocktail strategy.
“With an exciting roster of celebrity investors and industry accolades, Muff should bring a strong retail presence and clout that our team looks forward to furthering in key US markets,” he said.