Located 40 minutes from Belfast and just yards away from the historic harbour in Donaghadee lies the Copeland Distillery.

Producing a range of Irish gins, rums and whiskey, Copeland is one of Ireland’s fastest-growing and most innovative distilleries.

Established in 2016 by Gareth Irvine using funds raised via crowdfunding, Copeland moved into its current home in 2019, revitalising the former cinema and Ards bottling Company site which lay unoccupied for more than 20 years.

The distillery is now home to their award-winning Classic Irish and Navy Strength gins, cask-aged rums and a new range of malt and pot-still whiskey which are currently maturing prior to release from 2024.

The newest addition to Copeland's Smuggler’s Reserve Collection - Grand Cru Bordeaux edition

The Grand Cru Bordeaux edition is the fourth instalment since the release of their first two rums in October of 2020 and is a limited one-off release.

At Copeland Distillery, everything they do is inspired by their own history and their new rum is no exception.

In 1633, French wine came to Co Down courtesy of James Hamilton Jr, who was touring Europe.

He wrote to his father in Killyleagh Castle, asking him to send a boat and £350 to Bordeaux to import a direct shipment of the region’s famous wine back home to Ireland. In honour of this, the distillery worked with a select, French estate to source the highest quality casks to deliver a superior taste and aroma that is deserving of Bordeaux Grand Cru red wine.

The distillery has three copper stills, two whiskey and one gin still, named Betty, Hessie and Pam after the Founder's grandmothers and Mum.

Their rum is a blend of three-to-five-year-old dark rum from Barbados and double-distilled rum produced in the Copeland Distillery. After 336 hours of fermentation, the spirit passes through the copper pot stills; Betty a 600l wash still and Hessie, the 500l spirit still, before a precise cut is made to the heads (the first part of the alcohol which is collected). This ensures the best possible taste and balance.

Their carefully selected Barbados rum has been aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels, with their own Copeland rum aged in Quarter bourbon casks. After eight months in these heavy, first-fill American oak casks, they transfer the spirit into 8 Premier One, French Grand Cru casks to finish the rum for a period of four months.

With these casks having held some of Bordeaux's most prestigious wines of 2020, the flavour profiles are robust and full.

To find out more about The Copeland Distillery visit www.copelanddistillery.com. Exclusively available to the trade via DrinksInc