The Echlinville Distillery is expanding its award winning Dunville’s Irish Whiskey portfolio with the release of its third 18 year old single malt finished in rare Palo Cortado sherry cask. Dunville’s 18 Year Old Palo Cortado Sherry Cask Finish Whiskey Cask 1211 is the latest addition to Dunville’s Single Cask Series. Bottled at Cask Strength 54% abv, it is limited to just 318 individually numbered bottles. It will be available from The Echlinville Distillery online shop from 8pm BST on Wednesday 30 September 2020 and also from selected retailers RRP £199. Finished for almost three years in the finest Palo Cortado sherry cask, this whiskey is packed with notes of chocolate candied oranges, caramelised crème brulée, ripe orchard fruits, citrus zest and a hint of Christmas spices – nutmeg, cinnamon and toasted almonds. Cask 1211 takes its place proudly in the Single Cask Series alongside Dunville’s earlier Palo Cortado releases, both of which sold out within a few hours of their release earlier this year.

Jarlath Watson from Dunville’s Irish Whiskey said: “When we revived the Dunville’s whiskey brand in 2012 we did so with the promise not to compromise in our desire to produce the finest whiskeys conceivable. Our Single Cask Series is central to that ethos, showcasing the very best whiskeys in the Dunville’s warehouses and featuring exceptional Irish whiskey, uncompromised and bottled at its optimum strength to deliver both a stunning palate and wonderful, luxurious mouthfeel. “This release is our third Palo Cortado Sherry Finish Cask expression. Palo Cortado is in itself a rare type of sherry which starts ageing as a Fino or an Amontillado. During the ageing process, the flor becomes damaged or dries off, meaning the sherry ages oxidatively. Palo Cortado Sherry features the crispness of Amontillado and the full bodied sweetness of an Olorosso. While there are many sherry finished whiskeys out there, very few are finished in Palo Cortado casks, so we are delighted that Palo Cortado cask finishes are now a firm fixture in our Single Cask Series. “We firmly believe that each offering from the Single Cask Series further enhances Dunville’s global reputation for excellence and helps us take another step towards restoring ‘The Spirit of Belfast’ to its rightful place among the world’s best whiskeys.” Dunville’s 18 Year Old Palo Cortado Sherry Finish Single Cask Whiskey, Cask 1211 is priced £199 and will be available from The Echlinville Distillery  online at https://shop.echlinville.com/products/dunville-s-18-palo-cortado-sherry-cask-finish and at selected retailers, details of which will follow. For delivery outside Ireland and the UK please complete our Worldwide Shipping Enquiry form at https://shop.echlinville.com/pages/worldwide-shipping-enquiry For more information visit www.dunvilleswhiskey.com

Hellbent, the successful Northern Ireland producer of South African beef sausages, burgers and meat balls, has launched new pork products which have already won business with Tesco Northern Ireland.

The two novel products – Cherry Balsamic Pork Belly and Apricot and Mustard Pork Belly – have been listed for seven Tesco stores. They are based on traditional South African snacks which have been developed by the Hellbent teamintostand-alone meals.

The company has previously been successful with Aldi Ireland for its South African Boerewors beef sausages, a recent Great Taste Award winner, and with the sausages, burgers and meat balls with the Henderson Group’s EUROSPAR supermarkets in Northern Ireland as well as a string of delis.

The new products, according to Hellbent director Louis Ludik, are based on Oepsie which are popular in South Africa as snacks before a main grilled meat dish. “We developed thesnacks into meals with autumn and winter in mind,” says Louis. “The products can be cooked in the oven and well as the grill and can be enjoyed with sticky rice, in a bun or in a sandwich. They are very versatile dishes,” he adds.

Louis and his business partner Schalk van der Merwe – both from South Africa who came to Northern Ireland as professional rugby players – developed the cherry balsamic and apricot and mustard glazes for the new pork belly products.

“We teamed up with Connolly’s Meats in county Monaghan to produce and package these products for us,” Louis continues.“The product development started before COVID-19 and presented a lot of challenges.

“This meant we could not really be in the factory and had to pause development during the hard lockdown. We had to be really conscious in developing the product safely while trying to stick to our original timeline,” he adds.

“We started our journey of delicious culture collisions by making Irish beef into boerewors. Now we’re taking Irish pork belly and giving it some serious South African flavours with our balsamic and cherry ‘Oopsie’ inspired sauce and our honey and apricot glaze,” he says.

The Tesco order is the outcome of discussions between the retailer’s buying team and Hellbent and is the small food producer’s first business with the UK supermarket.

Award winning Boatyard Distillery in Northern Ireland has launched a unique sloe gin, the region’s first.

 Sloe Boat Gin, according to Boatyard founder and Managing Director Joe McGirr, is made with the distillery’s acclaimed Double Gin which has been “macerating for more than six months in the best quality sloe berries” at its distillery near Enniskillen in county Fermanagh.

 “We use half a kilo of sloes in every bottle for an intense flavour. Sloe gin, by its definition, has to have sugar added to it.  We have added just the minimum to sweeten the spirit but not to override the delicious taste of the sloes.

 “We’ve also foraged some local honeysuckle to add a complex sweetness,” Mr McGirr continues.

 This balance of flavour, he adds,” brings harmony to the spirit – intense plum, almond and berry fruitiness from the sloes and soft sweetness from the honeysuckle, paired with our juniper-forward Double Gin.

 “Our sloe gin has been created entirely from blind taste and nosing and we are absolutely delighted with the final result,” he adds.

 The distillery, located in a converted boathouse overlooking picturesque Lough Erne in Northern Ireland’s Lakelands, has an impressive track record in developing spirits from sustainable ingredients, including local botanicals such as sweet gale harvested from Mr McGirr family farm.

 Boatyard is Ireland’s only producer of farm-to-bottle organic gins. Its flagship Double Gin is distilled from organic spirit macerated for 18 hours with eight different botanicals.

 The new sloe gin is being produced as a first batch limited edition of just 1,800 bottles.

 “We recommended sipping it neat or with lemon tonic” says Mr McGirr,  “It also makes some great cocktails including a Charlie Chaplin.”

 The distillery, which also produces an award winning Boatyard vodka, is developing a malt whiskey, has won business in the UK and Ireland for its gins and is now exporting to North America.

The Oxford Cultural Collective has established a permanent, international programme of masterclasses, which support personal growth and professional development for those working in food, drink and hospitality.   Adopting a distinctly creative approach to learning, the masterclasses will be run by renowned academics, entrepreneurs, chefs, journalists, campaigners and broadcasters.  Reflecting the mood of our times, they are suited to those who want to gain fresh perspectives and challenge orthodox practice.

Browse the masterclasses and book your places – https://oxfordculturalcollective.com/masterclasses/

15% discount available to members of Food NI

Long Meadow Cider, the producer of award winning ciders, apple juices and apple cider vinegar, has won new business with a UK supermarket. The family run business is now to supply its apple cider vinegar to Sainsbury’s Northern Ireland’s supermarket chain.

The deal secured by the leading apple processor follows extensive discussions and samplings of the natural apple cider vinegar, which was a gold star in the recent UK Great Taste Awards, with the supermarket buying team.

The farm-based company also won golds for its Blossom Burst cider and Sparkling Apple Juice. It was won a strong of Great Taste and Irish National Food awards.

Long Meadow, located on the family orchard farm of Pat and Catherine McKeever at Loughgall, near Portadown in county Armagh, is among the most successful and progressive food businesses in Northern Ireland. It has an impressive track record of success in Northern Ireland and has developed sales in the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain.

The new business with Sainsbury’s is a major boost for thecompany. It already supplies craft cider to the store. “It is a marvellous endorsement of the quality of our Apple Cider Vinegar which is pure, unfiltered vinegar containing ‘The Mother’. Our natural cider vinegar will shortly be available in an initial nine supermarkets across Northern Ireland.

“We’ll be seeking to build on this tremendous opportunity and appreciate greatly the guidance and support we’ve received from the Sainsbury’s team here,” says Mrs McKeever.

“All our ciders and juices are processed exclusively from our home grown, handpicked apples from our own orchards and neighbouring farms. The ciders and juices are processed without concentrates, chemicals, or added water. The orchard to bottle process is under our control, ensuring provenance and safety.

“We produce small batches using a unique slow fermentation process for greater flavour. The apple cider vinegar is processed to maintain a high content of the ‘mother’ beneficial bacteria which can be taken as part of a daily diet,” she adds.

In addition, the Armagh enterprise has been building business steadily in Great Britain and the Republic or Ireland, key growth markets.

While the McKeevers have been growing apples for generations, the cider business dates back to 2013 when Pat, Catherine and son Peter launched their first ciders and natural juices.

The business has grown steadily and won widespread acclaim for the quality and taste of its products and also for its innovative approach to marketing and engagement with the local community.