Unique ‘apple pie’ rum in a bottle from Woodlab Distillery in Northern Ireland

A unique Irish apple rum is being produced by award-winning Woodlab Distillery, a small batch artisan spirits business in Moy, county Tyrone in Northern Ireland.

The small company, established by scientist Dr Ric Dyer in 2016, has blended locally sourced apples harvested near the distillery in county Armagh with a white Caribbean rum in the new spirit which has just been launched.

Dr Dyer explains: “I was keen to use the apples readily available from neighbouring orchards to create a different spirit from Northern Ireland. Quality and delicious apples are abundant here and so it made sense to use them in distilling a new spirit.

“I’ve chosen the Jonagold variety, a cross between a Jones and Golden Delicious yielding a sweet taste and resistant to frost. The use of this juicy, dessert apple is also in keeping with the ethos of the business which is on sourcing as many ingredients as practicable from local farmers,” he adds.

The new rum, which has already won a bronze as one of the world’s top rums in the World Rum Awards 2021, also features a local botanical which Dr Dyer describes as “secret”. “I’ve been working of different flavour profiles from the wide range of botanicals found around the distillery,” he says.  “This has involved extensive chemical analysis. The botanical which I use in the rum has a distinctive nutmeg-clover flavour profile, an apple pie in a bottle! It’s really quite a unique flavour of rum,” adds Dr Dyer.

The new rum follows the distillery’s established and successful three gin brands, a number of which have already won international awards including a silver medal for its Symphonia Dry Gin in the prestigious International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) in 2019.

Dr Dyer brought his analytical skills to distilling after spending 30 years in the international pharmaceutical industry.

The range also includes Symphonia Apple Gin, a gin made from the PGI protected Armagh Bramley Apple which blends seamlessly with juniper to create a crisp, refreshing spirit. Symphonia Fruit Cup is a summer fruit drink inspired by the raspberries and strawberries grown in the distillery’s garden.

The novel spirits are produced using innovative processes such as vacuum and microwave distillation in extracting flavours and fragrances from ingredients which would be impossible using traditional pot-still distillation.

Dr Dyer says the new rum also benefits from the process which gives the spirits a wider palette of flavours and allows a greater complexity and subtlety in taste.

Woodlab Distillery transferred from Dr Dyer’s converted garage at his home in Benburb to a new distillery complex developed near Moy, both located in Co Tyrone.

Around £120,000 was invested by Dr Dyer in the development of the distillery, warehousing, a gin school and visitor centre.

The distillery applies modern technology which had been proven to be the most efficient in terms of energy use. The environmentally friendly process requires only two percent of the energy required for traditional distilling.

The distillery has also won UK Great Taste Awards for its gin and Champion of Champions: Best Irish Gin at the Irish Gin Awards 2019.