Top London Stores list Poitin distilled in Northern Ireland

A traditional Irish Poit?n developed by two Londoners and distilled in Northern Ireland has won business from high-end retailers
Selfridges and Fortnum and Mason. And the Irish white spirit is on
track for export sales in the huge US marketplace within months.

B?n Poit?n was created by Dave Mulligan, who has a background in thesales and distribution of spirits and beers, and Cara Humphreys, an experienced marketer with family links to Co Clare.

The historic spirit is distilled by Echlinville Distillery at
Kircubbin in county Down, the first licensed distillery in Northern Ireland in over 130 years.

The spirit is the outcome of market research over the past two yearsby the two business partners who share a fascination about the
history and heritage of Poit?n. "I was aware of Poit?n from my
family links with Ireland and saw an opportunity to develop export
business particularly in the US by creating a version of this most
traditional of Irish spirits," Cara Humphreys says.

"We tried a number of poit?ns in Ireland before coming up with our
own distinctive recipe based on a blend of malted barley, potatoes, sugar beet and molasses. We were attracted to Echlinville because
the company distils using its own barley and was keen to work with
us in developing our poit?n.

"The Echlinville team also helped us in developing the distinctive
700ml bottle and branding for our new poit?n," she adds. "Winning
business from Selfridges and Fortnum and Mason was a tremendous
boost…and within weeks of the official launch of B?n Poit?n.

"It's proving to be popular in London bars as a new cocktail option.In addition, we've had interest from parts of Europe and from China.Online sales are also very encouraging. The big market for us, of
course, is the US, where we are already talking to a number of
potential distributors.

"There's a huge Irish American community interested in traditional
spirits like poit?n. We are confident that we'll be selling there
soon…once the spirit and labelling have been approved.

"We were also attracted by the marketing opportunity presented by
Irish Poit?n Geographical Indicative Status designation by the EU
Council and Parliament," she adds.