The award-winning distillery Boann Distillery celebrated the Winter Solstice last night (Dec 21st) by unveiling it's first Irish Single Pot Still Whiskey, reviving whiskey distilling at it's base just outside Drogheda, Co Louth, the first in the County for the first time in 160 years!
On the same date three years ago, Boann filled nine, specially hand-selected casks with whiskey spirit from it's inaugural distillation.
In 2019, the single pot still distillate was filled into different wine and spirit casks, including: NEOC (New Era of Oak Cask), PX, Armagnac, Sauternes, Moscatel, Chardonnay, Bordeaux, Rum and Marsala, and matured in the solitude of the distillery.
The first bottles of 'Solstice', matured on site, came from a Pedro Ximenez hogshead 250ltr cask.
The bottle design is a celebration of darkness into light, inspired by the Winter Solstice and the passing of time.
The body of the bottle design represents the copper pot still and the sun with structural symmetry of sunrays and the reflection of the moon above.
The three staves design, wax sealed to the wooden cork of the bottle, refers to the three years of maturation and is also a reference to the wooden staves of the casks in which the Single Pot Still Whiskey matures.
A select group of whiskey enthusiasts became the first to taste the newly-matured spirit at last night’s celebration in the family-owned distillery. There were once 18 distilleries in Drogheda, with the last silencing its stills in the late 1850s.
“It has always been our family dream to lead a renaissance of Irish whiskey and to craft and distil our own,” said Pat Cooney, Boann founder and entrepreneur.
“That revival has begun and Irish whiskey is now quickly becoming the fastest growing spirit in the world.
“In late 2019, the first spirit flowed from the Boann Distillery copper pot stills, the first to flow in Drogheda in over 160 years.
“Our state-of-the-art distillery, with its three custom handmade copper pot stills and our access to the best casks to mature our spirit, ensures that we produce unique whiskeys of great character and provenance with a real sense of place.
“Every bottle will tell a story – the story of our land, our people and our family. This celebratory bottling is a tribute to the people who made the creation possible.” concluded Cooney.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Plump ripe peaches meet pumpkin pie crust, followed by cinnamon bun and a sprinkle of nutmeg.
Palate: The rich, oily and warming mouthfeel intertwines with initial flavours of sultanas, banana bread and barmbrack. Red apples and ginger biscuits evolve and play wonderfully with that traditional Irish pot still spice, with just a touch of butternut squash shining through.
Finish: A long and decadent finish with traces of candied bark, peach fuzz and cinnamon buns.
For further details about Boann Distillery and ‘The Whistler’ range of Irish Whiskey, visit boanndistillery.ie
Slán go fóill.