Northern Ireland father-of-three to launch a range of ready-to-drink coolers in cans for the summer season

Based at the picturesque Antrim coastal village of Portballintrae, Simon (44) owns Dunluce Distillery and has already been successful with a gin and limoncello, the Italian liqueur that’s crafted from the zest of Amalfi lemons and traditionally served chilled as an after-dinner digestive. He’s now finalising four coolers for launch at the end of this month in a significant investment for the small business.

Simon has used his award-winning limoncello that’s widely available in the Causeway Coast region to create a spritz, a popular Italian cocktail.

The other coolers are: arancello spritz and two developed in collaboration with Troughton’s in Armagh, a leading producer of cider, mixers and tonics. These are Dunluce Distillery’s Shore Born Gin and elderflower tonic and Shore Berry Gin and lemonade. Arancello is a popular Italian orange liqueur.

Simon continues: “I identified a gap in the market here and in the Republic of Ireland for refreshing coolers that are convenient and ready-to-drink (RTD) especially over the summer months. I was very keen to develop other beverages based on my popular limoncello.

“I was delighted to be collaborating with Troughton’s. They were very supportive in the development of the gin coolers with elderflower and lemonade.

“The RTD market worldwide is now among the most dynamic sectors of the industry. And it’s a market that’s projected by experts to continue to grow strongly in both short and medium terms.”

Global research shows that RTD markets are experiencing significant growth, driven by consumer demand for convenience, innovation and a wide variety of options, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, with notable trends in canned cocktails, and functional drinks.

Father of three young children, Simon, who has vast experience in the tourism industry along the Causeway Coast, first set up a small distillery to make gin in a specially converted room at the family home in Portballintrae.

It was influenced by his first job in a water bottling factory during the school holidays at the age of just 14. “Little did I know back then, that my years at Antrim Hills Spring Water in Ballyclare would provide me with some valuable experience in bottling, the skills required to bring a product to market and also to ensure quality control in each successive batch.

“I learned about labelling, bottle filling, recipes and packaging, right down to capsule sealing the bottles by hand with heat guns, a technique I still use to this day with my gin and limoncello.

This experience led Simon to begin studying the craft of gin distillation in 2017.

He’s learned by experimenting over the years, “producing wine, beer, rum, brandy and rhubarb gin all for my own consumption and for some close friends too”.

However, he knew he wanted to produce his own gin commercially and so, when Covid-19 locked the country down and halted tourism, he found himself with spare time on my hands.

“I’ve worked in hospitality throughout my business life, including The Bushmills Inn for over 11 years, and had a fair idea what a really good gin looked and tasted like,” he says.

He acquired a small still and, in 2021, set up Dunluce Distillery. He then sourced botanicals to fine tune his unique recipe for gin in small batches and then proving the recipe could be scaled up for volume production.

“The botanicals in the gin include juniper berries, orris root, coriander seeds, hibiscus, lavender and angelica root. It has a distinctive flavour from sea kelp from the Antrim coastline.

“My goal was to produce a quality gin with my own flavour profile that I enjoyed. I wanted a spirit that everyone could enjoy, a spirit that represented the north coast, the people here now and those born by the shore,” he adds. “I’ve been fortunate to gain the support from local hotels, bars and wine shops for both the gin and limoncello.”

He opted for limoncello partly because it wasn’t readily available here.

“I’ve always loved the rich flavours of zesty lemon in limoncello and decided to develop my own on the back of my success in creating a small batch gin,” Simon explains. “Feedback has been immensely encouraging from the outlets selling the limoncello. It gave me something unique here to help set my small business apart."

“The new coolers in cans with limoncello and arancello are also now readily available here. I hope these innovations with prove popular especially during the summer months,” he says.