You may have caught a video tasting recently of Michael Clancy of Lough Ree, myself and Gin Genies, David T Smith of Summer Fruit Cup and Vanessa Piromallo of ilGin.it tasting Lough Ree’s fabulous Slingshot Gin. If you haven’t, check out the video below!
It was a pleasure talking to Michael, and believe me when I say Slingshot Gin is a beautiful thing, and being able to try the separate distillates was a great way to understand the purpose of it’s process and construction. One of the things I found fascinating with Sling Shot is that one the distillates that make up the gin is a peat distillate, not only is it interesting but it is delicious! There are some incredible floral notes to it. That, with the citrus and the gin distillate combined create a really rich gin that’s full of flavour and mouthfeel. Lovely stuff.
Well, the distillery are certainly doing well, as the below press release shows. I just want to say a huge well done Michael, congratulations on your success so far and I’m really looking forward to trying Aiteal and Mist + Moss!
If you wanted to find out a little more about Lough Ree, or get in touch, head to Lough Ree Distillery
“Lough Ree Distillery wins trio of medals at World Gin Masters and launches Aiteal, Irish Juniper Gin.
* Longford distillery win 3 medals at World Gin Masters with 3 uniquely Irish Gins.
* New product Aiteal – Irish Juniper Gin wins Gold.
* Sling Shot Gin wins Gold, its 9th International Medal and new Mist + Moss Irish Gin wins
Silver.
Lough Ree Distillery in Lanesborough, Co Longford are celebrating a trio of medals at the World Gin Masters, including a Gold Medal for Aiteal, their new Gin made with Irish Juniper.
Many gin distilleries look to the ends of the earth for their inspiration when developing new products. The team at Lough Ree Distillery take a different approach, however, and have looked to local and Irish flavours for their inspiration.
This approach has been rewarded with great recognition at the World Gin Masters, with the 9th international award for Sling Shot Distilled Irish Gin and Gold and Silver medals for two new Irish Gins made by Lough Ree Distillery. There were 219 entries in the competition from 105 different companies from across the globe.
* Sling Shot Distilled Irish Gin, launched in October 2018, has quickly become one of the most highly regarded Irish Gins, pouring in Ireland’s finest bars and restaurants and for sale in the best independent retailers. Sling Shot is the only spirit that contains a peat distillate, making it uniquely Irish and the very essence of terroir. Sling Shot Distilled Irish Gin won a Gold Medal in the Ultra-Premium class at the World Gin Masters.
* Late last year, Lough Ree Distillery were approached by the Armada Hotel in Spanish Point, Co Clare to help develop a bespoke gin with Co Clare botanicals. This was a labour of love as the founder’s late father hailed from West Clare. Working with the Armada Hotel and Farm teams, foragers Thalli Foods, and Moy Hill Farm, the new Mist + Moss Irish Gin was developed including Irish Juniper and a selection of other botanicals sustainably foraged in Clare. In its first competition outing, Mist + Moss Irish Gin brings a Silver medal (via Longford) to Co.
Clare.
* All gins must have juniper but sometimes it takes a back seat while other botanicals shine. Not so with Aiteal Irish Gin. There are very few juniper-only gins, but the Lough Ree Distillery team felt this Irish juniper had such interesting and complex flavours that it was worthy of making a gin in its own right, without the need for additional botanicals. As the gin is distilled with Irish whey spirit, Aiteal is the only 100% Irish Gin, and it launches on the market with the imprimatur of a World Gin Masters Gold Medal.
COMMENT:
Michael Clancy, Co-Founder, Lough Ree Distillery commented: “We’re delighted to score so highly in this prestigious International competition with not one, but 3 products, all of which are uniquely Irish. As a small, family-owned Irish distillery, we aspire to produce spirits that can compete with the best in the world and these awards are great validation for the quality of the ingredients we get from our Irish suppliers and the work that our team does to turn them into fine Irish spirits.” Sling Shot Distilled Irish Gin is widely available, Mist + Moss Irish Gin is available from The Armada Hotel (www.armadahotel.com) and Aiteal Irish Gin is available from www.lrd.ie and The Celtic Whiskey Shop.”
