From Strangford to the Preseli Hills: New artisan gin from Wales rooted in provenance of Co Down flavours
Strangford Lough native Philip Wheeler unveils West Wales craft gin inspired by 5,000-year-old Preseli Hills route at Northern Ireland’s biggest food event
Farming entrepreneur Philip Wheeler, who grew up in Co Down, is launching a new artisan gin at IFEX, Northern Ireland’s biggest culinary event, next week.
Philip, who has fond members of growing up around the Strangford Lough area, founded Golden Road Gin in Wales with wife Jennifer.
He remembers when “fresh food was simply part of everyday life, early Comber potatoes pulled from rich soil, excellent local meat, fish from the sea, dairy full of flavour”.
“That’s where my respect for provenance and a love of honest, rounded flavours that don’t need overcomplicating began,” he says.
He left Northern Ireland in the 1980s for university at Oxford. After a series of leadership roles over the years, Philip and wife Jennifer decided on a radical change of direction by moving to a smallholding in West Wales.
“Here, we keep Belted Galloway cattle, pigs and chickens. It’s a quiet place with no light pollution, just big skies and the ever-present beauty of the Preseli Hills rising beyond us.
“Running along the spine of those hills is The Golden Road, a historic eight-mile ridge-top route dating back roughly 5,000 years to the Neolithic period..”
“Like many smallholders, we often talked about ways to create a little additional income from the farm; something authentic, something that felt true to where we were and how we wanted to live,” he continues.
An illness “sharpened everything” and led to the decision to create a craft gin, which they named Golden Road Gin. “It’s a celebration of optimism, landscape and the privilege of being given more time. But more than that, it was born from our values.
"We are doing this to celebrate joy; the simple, everyday joy of looking up at the hills, of gathering friends around a table, of raising a glass to being here at all.
“We are doing it to honour adventure; the spirit of those who once walked the high tracks, the courage to take the safer but harder path, and the willingness to begin something new and authentic later in life.”