Echlinville Distillery gains international acclaim again

Whiskey champions Jarlath Watson and Shane Braniff, two successful Belfast businessmen, have helped rejuvenate one of the oldest spirit brands in Ireland and extended its reputation as a multi- award winner.

Whiskeys they have created under the historic Dunville’s Irish brand from their Echlinville Distillery, near Kircubbin in Co. Down, have gained international acclaim again, the most recent being voted ‘Best Overall Irish Whiskey of the Year’ in the influential Irish Whiskey Awards (IWA) in Dublin.

The winning whiskey was their Dunville’s 21-year old Single Malt finished in Old Palo Cortado casks.

IWA is calling for Irish whiskey to be marketed, especially to tourists, on an all-Ireland basis.

Dunville’s was once one of the best-selling Irish whiskeys in the strategically important US marketplace before Prohibition brought a ban on sales of spirits a century ago. The historic Dunville’s Royal Irish Distilleries, launched in 1808, subsequently shut in 1931 due to a tragedy in the family that then owned it.

The brand was then revived in 2012 by entrepreneurs Braniff and Watson under the Spirit of Belfast tag at their spectacular distillery

Jarlath, commenting on the latest recognition for Dunville’s, said: “We are thrilled to be named Best Overall Whiskey of the Year at the prestigious Irish Whiskey Awards. To come out on top in such a vibrant industry in a tremendous achievement. It’s great to be involved in the revival of ‘The Spirit of Belfast’ whiskey.”

Dunville’s gained a second award – ‘Best Irish Single Malt Whiskey’ for its 20-year old Oloroso and PX Sherry Cask Finish whiskey.

There was good news too for other local whiskey producers Two Stacks, which blends and bonds spirits in Newry, and Rademon Estate Distillery in Crossgar, Co Down. Rademon won two gold medals for its Shortcross single malts and Two Stacks for ‘Best Irish Pot Still Whiskey (12 years and under)’ for its Polaris premium blend.

David Boyd Armstrong and wife Fiona founded Rademon Estate Distillery at Crossgar in 2012 as the home of the multi-award winning Shortcross Gin and subsequently began creating their Irish single malt whiskey, which won ‘Best Newcomer of the Year’, in last year’s awards soon after its launch.

David, the master distiller, said: “We are immensely encouraged to have these awards, the second year in a row that the quality of our whiskey has won such acclaim.”

Shane McCarthy, one of the three founders of Two Stacks, said the small company was “humbled to have received one of the most sought after awards in the Irish Whiskey Industries, and pick up the overall Winner of ‘Ireland’s Best Pot Still Whiskey Award’.

“This is the Icing on the cake after a monumental year with our team and global partners. We very much look forward to leading the charge into 2023 and releasing more memorable Irish whiskeys to the world."

The awards won by the three companies showcase the growing strength of whiskey distilling here and its increasing importance to the local economy in terms of exports and international visits to a number of distilleries here.

Northern Ireland has also developed into a major producer of gins, vodka, rum, poitin and Irish Cream Liqueurs.

The impressive achievements of local whiskey brands after almost facing extinction in the 20th century are the result of investment by entrepreneurs. Irish whiskey sales are skyrocketing around the world and especially in the US, now the world’s biggest market for the golden spirit.

From just four operational distilleries in Ireland in 2010, including Old Bushmills, the only one in Northern Ireland, there are now 42 on the island, around 12 here. Annual global sales have surged from five million cases (60 million bottles) in 2010 to 14 million cases (168 million bottles) last year.

In the US sales rose 16 percent last year to a record $1.3billion, according to the Irish Distilled Spirits Council. If the trend continues, Irish whiskey sales in the US – currently 5.9 million cases – are expected to overtake Scotch by 2030.

It’s a stunning turnaround for the category, which hit its last peak during the 19th century, when Irish whiskey accounted for around 60 percent of total global consumption of the spirit. Between 1823 and 1900, the output quadrupled as more than 1,000 Irish distilleries shipped their products around the globe.

The scale of the current growth has led IWA, the lead representative body for the industry, to call on governments and agencies north and south to develop a new all-island Food and Drink Tourism Strategy as a priority for 2023.

IWA director William Lavelle explained: “We know that more and more international tourists are coming to Ireland looking to experience premium offerings, including discovering the best of Irish food and drink.”