Burrows, who held senior roles at Irish Distillers and its parent company, Pernod Ricard, often extolled the virtues of Irish whiskey during interviews, as one might expect. In a piece with CNBC reporter Jim Armitage a couple of years ago, Burrows said that his favourite tipple was Jameson.

"As an Irishman, Burrows naturally enjoys the smooth, triple-distilled taste of Irish whiskey (as opposed to the sparkier, double-distilled Scottish version), " Armitage noted.

All fine and dandy. The problem for Burrows is that such praise for Jameson doesn't sit well with his new job: he has just been appointed chairman of the Scotch Whisky Association, the lobby group for the whiskey business in Scotland.

The fact that an Irishman heads the Scotch whisky body has caused some wry comment in Scotland. But Burrows may be more palatable in Scotland than his predecessor: he replaces Englishman Paul Walsh, chief executive of Diageo.