COOLEY Distillery, Ireland’s last remaining independent whiskey maker, has signed a potentially lucrative deal to supply a Michael Collins-branded Irish whiskey to Sidney Frank Importing, a US drinks distributor.

Lee Einsidler, Sidney Frank’s chief executive, said he expected Cooley, headed by the entrepreneur John Teeling, to supply 50,000 cases of whiskey to the company in year one of the deal. This is an ambitious target given that 550,000 cases of Irish whiskey are sold in America each year. It would make the company Cooley’s biggest customer.

“We eventually hope to bring the brand worldwide,” Einsidler said.

Sidney Frank, a privately owned, New York-based company, is hoping to cash in on the recent growth in Irish whiskey consumption in America, where sales are increasing by 15% a year. This comes at a time when spirits sales as a whole are flat. There will be two types of whiskey: an original blend and a single malt. It will be distilled and bottled by Cooley and aimed at the “ultra premium” end of the market, said Einsidler.

Sidney Frank’s decision to launch a Michael Collins whiskey was inspired by the 1996 film about the Irish rebel leader, starring Liam Neeson.

Sidney Frank, the company’s founder, saw the movie and then read Tim Pat Coogan’s 1990 book, Michael Collins: A Biography. Coogan has been retained as an adviser for the launch. The company has trademarked the name. Einsidler said a percentage of sales would be paid to Collins’ descendents, to be given to a charity of their choice.