Jameson was a star performer last year for wine and spirits group Pernod Ricard, with strong international growth helping to boost sales of the whiskey brand by 11 per cent in volume terms.

The value of Jameson sales rose more than 18 per cent thanks to increased demand in the US, South Africa and Russia. Sales of all Pernod brands in all markets rose 9 per cent by volume and 13 per cent in value, the group said.

Pernod raised its full-year profit guidance and said Asian demand had helped sales, but its shares dropped due to a weak final quarter and signs of a slowdown in China. The shares lost 5.2 per cent to close at €152.59 in Paris, one of the biggest losers in the French CAC-40 index.

The drop came after Pernod reported underlying sales growth of 5.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, from April until June, below the 6 per cent expansion sought by many analysts. Sales in the year to June rose to €6.44 billion from €6.01 billion the previous year, when it bought Allied Domecq, and were in line with average expectations.

Pernod's Irish Distillers subsidiary said Jameson achieved double-digit growth in 24 markets and sales volume of 2.3 million nine-litre cases.

Chairman and chief executive Paul Duffy said the company had "great confidence" it can achieve its target of three million cases by the end of the decade.

"Jameson internationally is now performing better than ever," he said.

Jameson sales in the US grew by 21 per cent, reaching 500,000 cases for the first time. It said it was investing €15 million a year to expand its Irish distilling and maturation capacity to meet accelerating global demand.

Sales in Ireland of premium whiskey brands like 18-year-old Jameson and Midleton Very Rare grew by more than 17 per cent.

It said Irish sales of its vodka brands Stolichnaya, Huzzar and Wyborowa & Zubrowka increased by almost 20 per cent. - (Additional reporting, Reuters)