Irish whiskey vinegar from Armagh's Burren Balsamics is a winner with Great British food experts
A unique culinary vinegar from Burren Balsamics that’s matured in Bushmills Irish Whiskey casks has won a prestigious Great British Food Award which celebrates the country's finest home-grown ingredients.
Based at Richhill in Co Armagh, Burren Balsamics gained the award as Northern Ireland’s best product for its unique Balsamic Vinegar of Modena in collaboration with Bushmills.
“We’re thrilled to win this award with Bushmills,” says Burren founder and managing director Susie Hamilton Stubber.
“It was a huge privilege to work with the world’s oldest Irish whiskey, and we are so proud of how this balsamic infusion turned out. We were keen to work with Bushmills because it’s such a marvellous whiskey and an iconic Northern Ireland product
“At Burren Balsamics, our ethos centres on handcrafted Irish flavour and innovation. We love to champion Ireland's unbeatable produce, as we carefully infuse small-batch balsamic vinegar with local ingredients,” says Susie, who runs the pioneering Armagh business with chef Bob McDonald.
Formed in 2014, Burren carefully crafts premium pantry products using the finest local ingredients.
“All our products are thoughtfully infused with premium flavour, artisan expertise and local Irish Ingredients,” she adds.
Other local winners included: CRAIC Foods, Craigavon - gold for black garlic miso; Krazibaker, Dromore - silver for shortbread biscuits; Marshall’s Beekeeping, Loughgall- silver for honey; Ballylisk Cheese, Portadown - bronze for Triple Rose cheese; Granny Shaw’s Fudge, Ballymena - bronze for Crumbly Fudge; Crawford’s Rock, Kilkeel - bronze for garlic sea salt; Devil’s Churn – gold for campfire caramel sauce and Jackson Roze, Tandragee - bronze for ginger wine with clove.
The awards were launched in 2014 to celebrate the country's finest artisanal produce, as well as the hard-working people behind the scenes. The high profile judging panel, each wielding a hefty influence in the realm of British food and drink, included celebrity chefs Raymond Blanc, Michel Roux Jr and Shaun Rankin.