RADEMON ESTATE DISTILLERY PROFILE
Make what you love
Ireland’s renaissance as a whiskey-producing nation has been impressive to witness. Another recent addition to the Irish ‘whiskey map’ is Rademon Estate distillery, set up by husband-and-wife team David and Fiona Boyd-Armstrong in the town of Crossgar, County Down in Northern Ireland. SMWS ambassador Lee ‘Connas’ Connor caught up with David to find out what makes them tick
The historic Rademon Estate near Downpatrick encompasses more than 500 acres of land, an original estate house dating back to 1667, and an imposing obelisk in honour of the 19th century estate manager, William Sharman-Crawford. Now a gin and whiskey distillery is part of the estate’s landscape.
“The idea for the distillery here lies with my wife Fiona,” says David Boyd-Armstrong, who describes something of a rejuvenation project as opposed to a new distillery build. “Her parents had acquired Rademon Estate back in the early 2000s and it was pretty much in a state of disrepair. For them, bringing the estate back to life has been a labour of love.
“Fiona had been reading a book by Brian Townsend called The Lost Distilleries of Ireland. It really struck a chord with her. If you look at the peak of whiskey production in Ireland around 1908, we were making about 12 million gallons.
“What people tend not to realise is, over eight million of those gallons came from Northern Ireland. She thought it would be a great and worthwhile idea to try to restore some of that heritage and relight that fire.”
Unfortunately, Fiona’s father wasn’t too keen on the idea of a distillery at the time, suggesting that other projects on the estate took priority. But the idea clearly stuck.
“In an ideal world, we’d love a vineyard. But this is County Down, not Bordeaux!” David (pictured below) quips. “After we married in 2011, Fiona said: ‘What about a distillery then?’ Clearly the only answer I could give was: ‘Yes dear!’"
After we married in 2011, Fiona said: ‘What about a distillery then?’
There then followed a busman’s holiday that took the newlyweds on a journey of discovery all over the world. They travelled everywhere, from the United States to South Korea, learning from and enjoying distilleries along the way. Specifically, the craft distilling scene in America resonated deeply with the couple.
“Going into local pubs in Seattle was a real eye opener. All of the spirits were made locally, nothing from the bigger companies like Diageo or Pernod. We decided right there and then we should go for it!”
In January 2013 they ordered their first still, with the direct purpose of creating Northern Ireland’s first gin.
Plainly, although their success in introducing Shortcross gin to the market cannot be understated, Fiona and David were harbouring a whiskey fixation that required attention. David recalls courting the possibility of making it.
ABOVE: the prize-winning newcomer
“I’d fallen in love with whiskey following a tasting of the original Connemara Turf Mor,” he says. “And just before we launched our first gin, we were at the American Distilling Institute’s Craft Conference. Talking to people and visiting a range of distilleries, we realised that for ours to be a success we’d have to diversify.”
Being an engineer by trade, David went to work on planning a whiskey distillery: “We spent a year designing and fabricating a brewing plant, and in June 2015, we started making whiskey.”
Initially, David made use of the gin still, using it as both a wash and spirit still. Since then, a desire for a cohesive plant resulted in three more pot stills, which offer a range of different spirit styles – malt, peated malt and Irish pot still style.
They’ve also delivered an innovative approach to mash bills, with their first core release containing a mixed mash of both malted barley and malted rye. This has been accompanied by a forward-thinking cask programme, employing some virgin oak and traditional refill oak from America and around Europe, as well as former wine casks taking precedence over sherry maturation.
“Our mantra is very much ‘make what you love’” says David. “The way we look at making whiskey is literally ‘making flavour’. We make flavour decisions every step of the way. Mashing – malt, peated malt or other grains?
“Do we want clear or cloudy wort, fermentation times, cut points and so on. We take responsibility for all of it and create the whiskey we love, to share with the world.”
With their inaugural release winning Best in Show at the Irish Whiskey Awards as well as a cask strength expression on the way, the future is looking bright.
The team at Rademon Estate distillery has certainly made great strides. The fact that Fiona is currently the only female to own and operate a distillery on the island itself is intrinsically impressive. Couple that with their drive to showcase the quality and diversity of their spirit with the world and they are stood on solid foundations in the broader whiskey landscape.
They may even have their whiskey bottled in SMWS livery someday – watch this space.
Find out more about Rademon Estate distillery at https://rademonestatedistillery.com/