AFTER WATCHING his various listed exploration stocks take a hammering in recent times, entrepreneur John Teeling's spirits were raised this week by his Cooley whiskey operation in Co Louth landing a couple of major international awards in London.

Cooley wiped the eyes of its bigger counterparts to land the prestigious Distiller of the Year gong at the International Wine and Spirit Competition. It also won the European category.

This should help raise Cooley's visibility with distributors at a time when whiskey sales worldwide are flying.

"Our problem is getting the product on the shelf, and this should help us," Teeling said. "But look, Jameson is spending about €70 million this year on its advertising budget. My entire sales revenues is €13 million."

Teeling said that 2008 would be a "good year" for Cooley, adding that profits would rise.

"There's a scarcity of whiskey in the world because of the rapid growth in the US and India," he said. "So we have been able to feed into that."

The company, whose brands include Kilbeggan and Greenore, is also revamping its own-label whiskies, which it sells to retailers including Dunnes Stores and Aldi.

Teeling and Cooley are the great survivors. In 1994, Irish Distillers tried to buy what was then a struggling business from Teeling, with its then boss Richard Burrows stating that he would close it.

The Competition Authority blocked the deal and in spite of several attempts to link up with a bigger player, Teeling and Cooley remain independent.

"We'll keep on going," says Teeling.