There's whiskey - and gin - in the jar at Echlinville

The drink gin is the first spirit intrusted to carry the distillery name and with such an honour comes great responsibility and expectation to deliver something truly special.

With pre-orders locally and across Europe for their new drink, the distillery hopes to follow the export success of its Dunville’s Irish whiskey brand by working with their American importer to launch the gin in the USA.

“From this un-compromising land, we have created a spirit born of our own soil,” said managing director Shane Braniff.

“We grow and malt our own barley which allows us to produce our very own unique base spirit, a great foundation to build upon in terms of flavour and mouth feel.”

Speaking after a visit to the distillery coinciding with the launch of their newest product, Economy Minister Simon Hamilton MLA said: “Today marks another significant milestone for this ambitious family run business.

“Shane’s entrepreneurial spirit and ambition has seen Echlinville Distillery grow from its formation in 2012 to the opening of its new state of the art Distillery earlier this year – creating employment opportunities and adding to the tourism offering in the Ards Peninsula.

“The company is already making its mark on the international stage with exports success in the United States and other European markets as well as achieving success at the 2016 World Whiskies Awards for a number of its products including the historic Dunville Brand.

“It is really encouraging to see the impact that support from Invest Northern Ireland can have in helping innovative entrepreneurs like Shane who want to grow their business through exporting. I wish Shane and his team every success as they continue to develop their product range and grow their tourism offering.”