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Symphonia Irish Apple Rum wins business with Tesco Northern Ireland

Symphonia Spirits in Moy, Co Tyrone has gained a listing in Tesco stores across Northern Ireland for its unique and award winning Irish apple rum.  In addition, the craft distiller headed by organic chemist Dr Ulrich Dyer has been highly commended for its focus on sustainability.

The Symphonia rum, distilled at the Woodlab Distillery, gained the Tesco business following a direct pitch to the supermarket’s buyer who was impressed by the taste of the spirit and its presentation. A listing followed the presentation.

Dr Dyer, commenting on the new business with Tesco, said: “This is a very welcome boost especially at this time with Christmas approaching. Our Irish apple rum makes a perfect and warming drink for round the fire at home on these cold evenings and is also an ideal gift for the season or any time of the year.”

The small batch distillery, which produces a range of gin as well as the rum, was also delighted to have been highly commended in the influential 2021 Footprint Drinks Sustainability Awards in Britain.

The annual awards are regarded as the barometer for sustainability and responsible business practice for the drinks industry and represents the annual celebration of businesses and individuals making a difference to sustainability in the industry and its supply chain.

Dr Dyer continues: “It’s quite an achievement for a small distillery like Woodlab to be recognised among many bigger producers of all types of beverages. It’s a marvellous endorsement of our sharp focus on operating to the highest sustainability standards in everything we do.”

The commendation follows recognition by the judges of Dr Dyer’s focus on “creating successful spirits while remaining consistently mindful about how to reduce the company’s impact on energy and the earth’s natural resources. It meant harnessing science with nature to create the best tasting spirits possible, capturing the wonderful flavours and fragrances of botanicals in the most eco-efficient way.”

The aim was to make spirits that reflect the glory of the Northern Irish countryside. Symphonia’s ethos also meant giving something back to the country. The company features a scientific approach to the developing flavours. Ingredients were also sourced as ethically and locally wherever possible –this helps the environment by reducing carbon emissions due to transport and supports the local economy 

The distillery, in addition, was different in its use of recycled glass in the stills, which are not only more environmentally friendly than copper, but they have also been scientifically proven to give a cleaner taste.

The distillery created a unique process combining three techniques: cold distillation, hydrodistillation, and molecular analysis.  These ground-breaking innovations ensured the rich, delicate, flavours of the botanicals are extracted with the maximum efficiency and preserve their taste quality. They also hugely reduce energy consumption using only two percent of the energy required for traditional distilling. These techniques brought additional space efficiency.  The distillery has a reduced physical footprint compared to others. It is the only distillery in the world using these combined processes.

Remaining true to the purity of science and nature is at the heart of Symphonia’s ethos.

In practise, this means harnessing science with nature to create the best tasting spirits possible, capturing the wonderful flavours and fragrances of botanicals in the most eco-efficient way.