Founded by Joe McGirr, who was previously COO for The London Distilling Company, Boatyard is perhaps one of the most picturesque distilleries around.
Based at Lough Erne, in Northern Ireland, it has been open since 2016, with the focus to becoming a Whiskey distillery, creating some of the best Irish Whiskey around.
At Boatyard they are passionate about what they do and pour knowledge into every drop.
Their inspiration comes from provenance, which is an idea similar to that of terrior for wine producers. It is all about where your ingredients come from and the importance of finding the very best. It goes down to the smallest detail, including the environment that the wheat is grown in.
Of course, Whisky takes a long time to mature, so in the meantime, Boatyard are turning to spirits like Gin and Vodka.
They have a range of Gins, including an Old Tom and a Double Gin.
All of Boatyard’s botanicals are organic, owing to the fact that they are striving for consistency.
McGirr says, “Through development I saw massive consistency discrepancies in the juniper that we were getting. We now have organically certified juniper from Bulgaria which has been the most consistent and high quality I have seen.”
One of the most interesting points about Boatyard Double Gin is that it goes through a process of filtration through juniper berries during the first distillation. This is where the term Double Gin comes from, and is a practice used commonly by Dutch Gin makers.
Boatyard also use a unique selection of botanicals, including juniper, sweet gale (bog myrtle), angelica, liquorice root, lemon, orris, grains of paradiseand coriander.
The sweet gale is hand picked by McGirr’s family in Fermanagh and is a nice local twist.
This is definitely a Gin where juniper leads the way. The nose is full of it, with lots of pine qualities and sweet notes.
The citrus also comes through, with the lemon giving a nice refreshing edge to it.
The palate is intense, with more juniper and a wonderful dash of coriander. Softer floral notes of sweet gale and angelica come through and give a good depth to the Gin.
Again, the juniper is strong but not overpowering, allowing the other flavours to establish themselves.
The finish has a classic dryness to it and has yet more floral notes.