Spirited spiced beef from Ispini Charcuterie in Northern Ireland

A new spiced beef has been developed in Northern Ireland by Ispini, an award winning producer of charcuterie.

The small batch producer, which is based on a family farm near Aughnacloy in county Tyrone, has created the original flavour of spiced Northern Irish beef from a blend of traditional spices and Irish whiskey.

The beef is then air dried for over three months in the company's fermentation chamber. The whiskey used by the company is Dunville's PX, a multi-award winning 12-year single malt.

The whiskey, once distilled in Belfast and among the best known brands, especially in the US, in the early 20th century, has been revived by Echlinville Distillery at Kircubbin in county Down in the past five years.

Pig farmer Jonny Cuddy, who established Ispini Charcuterie in 2016 with sister Janice, says the new spiced beef is "a further example of the company's focus on creating original charcuterie from premium ingredients sourced from local suppliers".

"Our beef industry is rated among the world's very best. In addition, we now have a thriving sector distilling a range of premium spirits including whiskey, gin and vodka.

"Drawing the two together to create an original charcuterie product made sense. In the past we've developed successful charcuterie using locally sourced craft beer and used this to produce our unique chorizo beer sticks," he adds.

The siblings established the small charcuterie business in 2016 to develop other business opportunities for the farm specialising in the Duroc breed.

Ispini - name is Irish for sausage - has won a series of awards for its range of original Irish charcuterie including three stars in last year's UK Great Taste Awards and was named among the top three food producers in the recent BBC Food and Farming Awards.