IRISH whiskey brand Hinch, which earlier this month launched its £15 million distillery and visitor experience in the grounds of Killaney Estate near Ballynahinch, has ramped up its global exporting activity through a new partnership with a German distributor.
The deal with Schlumberger from Meckenheim, one of Germany's long-standing top wine and spirits companies and which represents a range of international spirits brands, will see Hinch launched into Irish whiskey's fourth largest European market from January.
Hinch also plans to introduce its Celtic-inspired Ninth Wave Irish Gin brand into the significant German gin market in 2021.
The company has also appointed Pinot Wines & Spirits, an independent importer of premium international spirits based in Lodz, as its distributor in Poland (which is the sixth largest Irish whiskey market in Europe).
It comes as Hinch, whose chairman is former Belfast packaging entrepreneur Dr Terry Cross OBE, launches its An Chead Dún cask programme.
The unique cask release contains its first ever distillation of Irish single Malt spirit, using traditional Irish distilling methods.
Each cask owner will receive a unique package which includes a very rare bottle of Hinch 18-year-old single malt, a small memento bottle of the original spirit.
An Chead Dún, which translates from Gaelic as 'The First Down', is the first single malt spirit and ultimately whiskey, released directly from the Hinch Distillery.
Dr Cross said: "Hinch whiskeys are inspired by the distilling traditions and skills exchanged over the centuries during the ebb and flow of Gaelic peoples across the Irish Sea.
"Cask owners can expect fuller, bolder and more intense flavours from our An Chead Dún spirit. For me, it's all about creating Irish whiskey with as much strong and individual character as possible."
