Liquid gold being distilled in the Mournes…and its legal!

While the two first met at primary school in nearby Rostrevor and have been close friends ever since, the artisan distillery, located in the foothills of the Mournes, is the first time they’ve worked together in a business venture.

The Mournes was once home to a number of distilleries including some illicit producers of Irish whiskey and especially poitin, both spirits now with EU protection which means they can only be distilled on the island of Ireland. The history of whiskey distilling in the Mournes is recorded in a new publication by Michael McKeown, the chairman of Matt D’Arcy’s Irish Whiskey in Newry. Mr McKeown is reviving the historic Newry whiskey and is building a new distillery in the border town.

Mourme Dew is now one of two whiskey distilleries in the Mournes – the other being Killowen overlooking Rostrevor and the picturesque Carlingford Lough. Donal Farrell is the master distiller and blender at Mourne Dew, an established distillery which has already created award winning gins and poitins. Noel Mills is an experienced marketer with a track record in global sales in the past with FM Systems, an environmental engineering operation that’s also based in Newry. He’s already spearheaded the impressive sales of Mourne Dew’s Kilbroney and Rostrevor gins and its two Pooka poitins from the company’s small batch distillery and is relishing the opportunity to sell the two new whiskeys. The gins and poitin were recently listed by Sainsbury for its network of stores here.

Donal, who had been working on the distillery project for more than six years, invited Noel to lead the marketing drive for the initial gins. Noel, who travelled the world for FM Systems, readily accepted because he saw the potential of the unique flavours of the Mourne botanicals in global markets.

“I was thrilled to work with such a close and valued pal on a project that excited me when Donal outlined what he was planning,” says Noel. “There’s tremendous demand in international markets now for handcrafted spirits and especially whiskeys from Ireland. Irish whiskey remains the fastest growing brown spirit in the US. It has a very strong profile with consumers there. Our recently launched whiskeys are already attracting attention and very positive comments from people who’ve tasted them.”

The two whiskeys are a single malt and a blended version. Both are triple distilled and made from malted barley and grain spirit. The spirit has been matured in a mixture of virgin oak and bourbon casks and contains a small percentage of rye and peated malt to give added complexity and richness to the liquor.

“It has a soft mellow flavour with notes of vanilla, toffee and a berries and just a hint of peat. It is very soft and pleasant on the palate,” Donal continues.

“The second spirit is a single malt Irish whiskey which has been matured in bourbon casks and finished in IPA casks. This whiskey is exceptionally round and smooth with a well-balanced peaty flavour. It has a rich malty flavour that lingers on the palate.”

The release of first two Mourne Dew whiskeys represents the culmination of research over six years into flavour development and maturation techniques by Donal for both poitins and gins and now the whiskeys. 

“Whilst our distillery has only been in operation for three years, the research and development behind our products started back in 2014. We have spent years working on flavour development methods and have also invested heavily in a unique vacuum distillation process which allows us to produce a whole range of delicate and richer flavours not achievable with conventional methods. We are working with technicians Queen’s University Belfast on deepening our knowledge and expertise in this science and we hope that this work will bear fruit in the coming years,” he adds.

Mourne Dew is the only distillery in Ireland using vacuum distillation, a process which ensures the strong flavours from the quality ingredients are preserved.

“Our gold medal poitins and gins have been recognised as superlative drinks in their own right but now the launch of our whiskeys sees the Mourne Dew Distillery product range expand into exciting new areas for us. It is a bit of an understatement to say that everyone involved in this project is excited to see the result of six years of research, work and investment come to fruition. We think our whiskeys are superb. We now confidently await the final stamp of approval for our efforts, namely what our customers think of our them,” he says.

The company has been supported with financial assistance from Invest Northern Ireland towards research and development and promotion of its products in export markets. Adds Donal: “We are currently seeking suitable distributors for our products in a range of major export markets and the assistance of Invest NI in this area is proving invaluable.”

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