First Fermanagh whiskey casked in over a century

The first whiskey to be distilled in Northern Ireland's county Fermanagh has just been casked at a craft distillery near Enniskillen.

The whiskey has been developed by Boatyard Distillery, which overlooks scenic Lough Erne, by master distiller Joe McGirr, who launched the award winning Boatyard Double Gin last year.

Mr McGirr has extensive experience in the whiskey industry and has laid down the latest Irish whiskey in Northern Ireland in Kentucky bourbon casks in the small distillery using his own 'field to cask' recipe for the new spirit.

The new whiskey uses a chocolate malted barley for a richer flavour and darker colour. The spirit will remain in the casks for more than three years.

The last whiskey distilled in Fermanagh was in 1887 when there were more than 30 distilleries in Ireland. Only three survived into the 20th century - Bushmills in county Antrim, Cooley in county Louth and Middleton in Cork. The industry has been revived over the past decade and several new distilleries are either in operation or at the planning stage.

In Northern Ireland, Echlinville in Kircubbin, county Down is producing Dunville Irish Whiskey as well as its own and Jawbox gin. Niche Drinks in Derry is developing The Quiet Man Irish Whiskey and will begin distilling early next year.

And Rademon Estate Distillery in Crossgar, county Down, a specialist in the successful Shortcross Gin, has also casked whiskey. Belfast Distillery Company is still in process of converting a wing at the historic Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast into a whiskey distillery.

Boatyard in Fermanagh is building on the outstanding market success of its unique double distilled gin. Boatyard Gin (ABV 48% and available in distinctive 70cl bottles), is the brainchild of Fermanagh native Mr McGirr, who has worked within the industry for over 15 years with Glenmorangie and Moet Hennessy.

In 2014, he joined the London Distillery Company as chief operating officer and had always hoped to move back to his native Fermanagh, where he grew up on the family farm.

The concept for The Boatyard Distillery was born three years ago with the simple ethos to create award winning spirits from local raw materials such as Fermanagh Sweet Gale. Since then, he has built the concept through to location, engineering, planning permission, HMRC bonded spirit approval, spirit creation and branding.

The first phase of work will see the creation of a visitor centre next year for distillery tours, gin tastings and a retail shop. It produces the base alcohol used to make gin with brand new technology.

The distinctive distillation process gives the Boatyard Distillery absolute control over the first part of the process which the owners say is not possible when buying in pre-made base spirit from other suppliers. The same approach is being applied to whiskey distillation. The company has complete control of the process 'from field to glass'.