Baileys Brew

Leprechauns' delight

"It's almost been too successful," says Ireland's Keith MacCarthy-Morrogh, 37, assistant managing director of Gilbeys, which makes a concoction known as Baileys Original Irish Cream Liqueur. First introduced to the worldwide liquor trade only six years ago, Baileys, a sweet blend of chocolate, cream and whisky, now outsells such established after-dinner favorites as Cointreau and Grand Marnier. Annual production of Baileys at Gilbeys' Dublin plant has grown from 25,000 cases in 1976 to 2 million.

In the U.S., Baileys' largest market, distributors suggested that 12,000 cases be cautiously introduced in 1979. Sales that year unexpectedly totaled 80,000 cases and by 1981 had grown to 600,000. Baileys has also enjoyed giddy growth in several other countries, including Britain, West Germany and Australia.

While the quaint name and stubby bottle suggest that the drink might be made in the bogs by leprechauns, Baileys is the brainchild of chemists at Gilbeys. The developers were looking for an alcoholic drink "for people who don't like to get sloshed," recalls MacCarthy-Morrogh. The alcohol content of Baileys is 34 proof, or less than half that of many traditional liqueurs. The other goal was to create a product entirely from Irish ingredients that could qualify for the generous tax breaks the government offers to exporters. After testing dozens of potential beverages, including some strange-tasting green-colored brews and an Irish whisky spiced with Irish herbs, Gilbeys settled on native cream, preserved naturally by Irish whisky. The only problem was that the mixture of whisky and cream separates, like oil and water. Gilbeys chemists thus had to devise a secret process to make the blend long-lasting.

Baileys' success has spawned an industry of competing Irish cream liqueurs, including Waterford Cream, Carolans (a mix of honey, cream and whisky) and Royal Tara (an orange-flavored cream). There are also a host of Baileys rip-offs bearing similar-sounding brand names. At last count there were at least 50 copies of Irish cream being served worldwide.

The new drink, though, has not yet caught on strongly at home. Many hard-drinking Irishmen prefer to stick with their traditional whiskies and foaming pints of Guinness Stout. In some pubs the cream liqueurs are called liquid glue. With sales abroad so strong, Gilbeys has scarcely missed the local business. qed

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