​Brendan’s Pangur branded poitín gains two gold medals in the San Francisco International Spirits Competition

As a result of the knowledge and skills of Brendan Carty, owner and master distiller at Killowen Distillery which nestles on the side of the Mournes, a limited edition of his Pangur branded poitín recently gained two gold medals in the influential San Francisco International Spirits Competition.

It’s a remarkable success that establishes the transparent spirit, Ireland’s oldest, on the world market and provides another important beverage in Northern Ireland’s fast developing portfolio of world class and internationally successful spirits especially

Irish whiskey.

Killowen Distillery collaborated with Blackwater Distillery of Ballyduff in Co Waterford to create a limited edition Irish poitín, the first time such a project has been undertaken and celebrates the iconic spirit that started life underground in 1661 when taxes on the spirit were first introduced.

The unique spirit, long part of Ireland’s folklore, is now legal and even protected by the European Union. As a result of this protection, genuine poitín can only be distilled on the island of Ireland for sale here and abroad.

The global recognition for spirits from Killowen in Rostrevor, probably Ireland’s smallest independent distillery, coincided with outstanding awards recently for other local producers

For instance, McConnell’s Irish Whiskey, which last week installed three pot stills in its developing distillery at the old Crumlin Road gaol in north Belfast, also won gold at San Francisco for its popular five-year-old premium blended whiskey. Owned by Belfast Distillery Company, McConnell’s plans to start distilling there later this year.

The whiskey has a rich heritage and is the city’s oldest spirit.

Jawbox Gin, furthermore, which is produced at Echlinville Distillery in Kircubbin, Co Down won gold for its export strength gin at the prestigious London Spirits Competition. Jawbox is now among the most ‘decorated’ local gins in international awards.

Other local distilleries have also been developing poitin in recent years.

Rademon Estate Distillery in Crossgar, Co Down, home to the multi-award-winning Shortcross gins and whiskey, has also launched an Irish poitín. And Mourne Dew Distillery in Warrenpoint already produces a successful poitín, The Pooka.

Global leader Old Bushmills electrified whiskey lovers last month with the launch of a new £37 million distillery in the Co Antrim village and coupled the announcement, the biggest in distilling here ever, with the introduction of two rare single malts.

Brendan Carty, an architect by profession, built Killowen distillery, overlooking Carlingford Lough, in 2015. His objective was to revive distilling techniques of the past in the creation of small batch whiskeys, vodka, gin and poitín.

Winning gold awards for poitín and a silver for his five-year-old single malt Irish whiskey and other innovations will ensure that he will have a key place when a new history of Irish distilling is eventually written.

Brendan, commenting on the first awards for Killowen’s unique poitín, says: “We’ve tended not to enter competitions until San Francisco because we haven’t seen the need for such awards. This year, however, we decided to see what the experts in the

big global competition thought of our poitín and single malt whiskey.

“Winning double golds for poitín and silver for our single malt whiskey are a massive encouragement for our small distillery. We’ve already seen many approaches from international distributors for our spirits,” adds Brendan. “We’ll looking at how best to grow sales especially in markets outside Northern Ireland.”.

Founded in 2000, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition is the world’s oldest, largest and most respected competition of its kind. Success in the competition not only helps brands enter and stand out in the US and international markets but is a critical next step for any producer to earn recognition in the industry and with

consumers.

Each year’s results are closely followed, both by consumers who are eager for the expert judgements on spirits and more importantly by the trade, especially international distributors.

Killowen’s focus on traditional techniques is also seen in its unique distillation methods which include flame fed stills, worm tub condensation and unique pot stills molded on Irish whiskey stills of old. The distillery, in fact, was the first in Ireland to

distil spirits over flame.

“Our award-winning poitín encapsulates these historical disciplines of our native spirit to create a truly superior product fitting of the word poitín,” Brendan adds.