Meet the Maker: Dublin City Spirits
Since its test run in 2016, Dublin City Gin has won many awards and is widely celebrated for its taste, quality, and handcrafted production. We sat down with Dublin City Spirits’ Founding Partner Jim O'Connor and Sales Manager Brian McGlinchey to find out about the exciting Irish spirits and their roots in the famous city of Dublin, the origins of the brand, their fantastic range of spirits, and their plans for the future...
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A truly Irish brand
After 25 years away from their home of Ireland travelling the world with successful creative careers and starting a family, founders Sheila and Jim returned to their roots with a dream to start a family business together. The whole family are creative, Jim himself an ex-Disney executive, but with no background in the industry, the booze game didn’t seem the obvious choice. The lightbulb moment hit after friends in America kept asking them to bring back a Dublin gin - something they quickly realised didn’t actually exist. As Jim says: ‘Mickey Mouse drove me to drink’! While the idea started as a bit of a hobby simply to bring friends and family a bottle of true Dublin gin, it quickly started to snowball.
Jumping in at the deep end, Jim headed to a friend’s craft distillery where, as he jokes, he was the ‘Jedi apprentice’, learning everything from scratch. After lots of time and endless experimenting with different botanicals and methods of distillation, the final recipe has evolved to 7 key botanicals. A labour of love, Dublin City Gin is now Ireland’s most impressive award winner, with an impressive 15 gold medals.
With their strong roots in Dublin they knew a gin would have to be shaped by the city and reflect their love of Ireland. Local produce is one of Dublin City Spirits’ main focuses; rhubarb was chosen as the main botanical, grown and harvested themselves in a friend’s allotment on the Grand Canal in Dublin. The base spirit is distilled from Irish milk ‘whey’, which complements the botanicals with a gorgeous silky mouthfeel and is a local alternative to imported grain.
A family business through and through, the pair are involved in every part of the process, from design, photography and growing, to the harvesting and distillation (and of course, the tasting) to ensure that level of quality and care that only comes from a passion for your business.
Dublin City Whiskey
Shortly after releasing their first ever gin in 2016 Dublin City Spirits took on a new challenge after a chat with John Teeling, owner of the Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk. He convinced them to start making whiskey, and the idea for Dublin City Whiskey was born.
The creative process began in earnest, with decisions made on ageing, what wood to use, the length of distillation, and blending, to create a whiskey inspired by the city and the Victorian distilling era of Dublin. It is traditionally triple distilled, matured in American Oak, and finished in Sherry. To ensure no quality or taste is lost it will be non-chill filtered and retain its natural colour.
After its finishing the whiskey is set to be bottled in May 2021.
What’s next for Dublin City Spirits?
Keep your eye out over the next year, as Dublin City Spirits have a delicious first release aiming to hit the market in June: their first golden spirit, a 100% Single Malt Whiskey, which we can’t wait to try. After a fantastic first few years Jim and the team are excited to push the brand internationally, so if you can’t get your hands on it from where you are - watch this space!
Head over to @dublincityspirits on Instagram and Facebook to stay updated with their releases, or check out their website at www.dublincityspirits.com
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