Kevin Richards CEO of Lambay Irish Whiskey Americas
Lambay Irish Whiskey is expanding its market in America, and Kevin Richards is leading the rollout as CEO for the exclusive importer in the U.S. and throughout the Western Hemisphere. Lambay, independently sourced and master-blended, is unlike any other whiskey anywhere; it is produced on private Lambay Island, three miles off the coast of Dublin, and is matured in hand-selected Camus Cognac casks. The Island has been owned by the Baring banking family since 1904 and acts as a wildlife sanctuary complete with a castle. Lambay also features one of Ireland’s “Holy Wells,” the Trinity Well – the volcanic spring source of the ultra-pure water used in the final products.
Houses of Camus & Revelstoke
The whiskey is a collaboration between the Baring family’s Revelstoke Trust, which owns Lambay Island, and the world-renowned French cognac producer House of Camus. Alexander Baring, 7th Baron Revelstoke, and Cyril Camus, the fifth generation of the Camus family, came together to create a unique range of complex, smooth whiskeys, blending the unique maritime microclimate environment of the Baring ancestral home and the centuries-old experience of the Camus masters. Both men share a love of nature and l’art de vivre; they collaborate on all aspects of the whiskey-making process, combining the centuries-old blending and maturation skills of Camus and the unique environmental treasures of the island to produce their signature Lambay Irish whiskey.
Lambay Island’s 2000 Years of History
The unique island setting and its romantic history are a big part of what drew Richards, a spirits industry veteran, to head up the U.S. distributorship. “What I love about this compared to my last two brands is that I can point to a map and say, ‘That’s where our whiskey comes from,’” he says. Lambay Island has enjoyed a rich and quirky history since Ptolemy mapped it 2000 years ago. After the Romans, some of the original Vikings in the fifth and sixth centuries were there – its name is a variation of Norse for “lamb island.” Richards notes, “Throughout those centuries there were pirates, it was a penal colony, there was a hot-air balloon race from France to Ireland, and the balloonists got off-course and ended up on the island.”
Cecil Baring, 3rd Baron Revelstoke
In 1904, Cecil Baring, 3rd Baron Revelstoke, director of his family’s London banking firm Baring Bros., and his wife, American heiress Maude Lorillard, bought Lambay Island as a retreat. Maude’s father, the tobacco tycoon Pierre Lorillard IV, founded Tuxedo Park, the posh enclave outside New York City which attracted America’s rich and powerful. In the late 1880s, it was where “The Four Hundred”, pillars of New York’s high society, came to play, and where the tuxedo became fashionable after socialite James Brown Potter wore a tail-less black dinner jacket modeled after one he’d seen on the Prince of Wales during a trip to Britain. Edwin Lutyens, one of England’s most esteemed architects, later transformed the castle and the island’s other buildings over many years. Today, the entirety is considered Lutyens’s masterpiece in romantic domestic architecture.
Puffins & Wallabies
In the 1950s, the 5th Lord Revelstoke brought a troupe of wallabies to the island. There are puffins and 2,500 other species of birds there, as well as additional wildlife, including a seal colony. Butterflies and bees proliferate, thanks to the natural habitat, sparse population, and lack of pollution. “It’s a Galapagos-of-the-north,” Richards says.
Today, Alexander Baring, 7th Baron Revelstoke, the whiskey entrepreneur, is spearheading “The Lambay Initiative”, a comprehensive effort to preserve the island’s coastline, flora, fauna, and architecture in pristine condition. Tours of the island can be arranged. lambayisland.ie
A Maritime Soul
Lambay has close ties to the sea, and that close association will continue in the U.S. “We do come from an island, and there are boat races around it; the Barings are very sea-oriented,” says Richards. “Even the cognac casks from France come by boat over the water. And the sea air is one unique ingredient because, during the maturation process, the very high salt content in the air affects the taste.” In addition, there is a natural spring on the island, which is volcanic, and that very pure spring water is mixed with the distillate in the whiskey-making process. “Our voice and brand are going to be nautical, to a certain extent.”
Spirits, Branding Pro
A Wharton graduate, Kevin Richards has over 20 years of experience in the luxury goods and spirits industries. He introduced America to Prosecco in 2001, with Mionetto Prosecco and helped launch Voss Water with his advertising agency, Dune Road Group. Richards later segued to direct brand management, serving as CEO of Christiania Vodka, Royal Elite Vodka, and, most recently, Blackwell Rum, owned by hospitality mogul and music-industry legend Chris Blackwell.
lambaywhiskey.com
