Trio successfully bottle the spirit of West Cork

THE last six years have been a steep learning curve for the three men behind the latest addition to the alcohol section of your local supermarket — Drombeg Premium Irish Spirit.

Created and manufactured in Union Hall in west Cork, the brown spirit uses local spring water and a proprietary maturation method painstakingly researched by local friends, John O’Connell, along with cousins, Denis and Gerard McCarthy.

“None of us had any experience of distilling, fermenting or spirit making of any sort,” said Mr O’Connell. “The idea of making our own spirit actually came to the three of us back in 2005 when we were rigging up a home-beer making kit, and we thought there might be a market out there for a special spirit made right here in the heart of west Cork.” With the McCarthy cousins finding their chosen careers as fishermen slowly dwindling due to poor catches and rising diesel costs, and John O’Connell recently returned home from working for the Kerry Group in Britain, the three childhood friends grasped the nettle of a new venture into the unknown. “We put all of our savings on the line and certainly met many pitfalls over the six years it took finally to realise our dream,” he says.

“We took the product 95% of the way and Dr Barry Walsh, the former master blender with Irish Distillers, helped bring it the final 5%.” added Mr O’Connell.

In a market crowded with heavyweight competition, the West Cork trio are promoting their unique brand, partly through its mythical associations. Across the harbour from Union Hall stands Drombeg Stone Circle — a megalithic structure dating from 150 BC, which may have served as a sacred location where the changing seasons were celebrated.

“West Cork is famous around the world for its purity and uniqueness, and we felt that this would be an image that would serve our spirit very well in attracting the attention of the public,” says Mr O’Connell.

Having recently secured a distribution agreement that will see Drombeg in retail outlets and bars around the country over the coming months, it looks like the great adventure for the three Union Hall friends is just beginning. “We would hope to see this breaking into the North American and Asian markets eventually,” he says. “For the moment, we are taking it one step at a time.”