Going the extra miles for a unique island-born gin

CAPE Clear Island Distillery, Ireland’s newest and only offshore distillery, has launched its ‘3 Sq. Miles’ gin (right).

Island-based investor Séamus Ó Drisceoil told The Southern Star that the brand takes its name from the island’s geographic landmass.

The distillery, which is funded mostly by private, local investors as well as the support of Údaras na Gaeltachta, is based in a premises that once used to be a hatchery.

The first 1,000 bottles have been produced under a unique label, marked 1 to 1,000, but that is just the first phase of the company’s plans for a full-scale whiskey distillery.

‘With so many gins currently on the market,’ Séamus Ó Drisceoil said, ‘an enormous effort has been expended to develop a quality gin that truly reflects the maritime nature of the island and its landscape.

‘It took a team of local enthusiasts working with new product developer and distiller Ruth Court more than six months to finally achieve a distinctive recipe that all are genuinely very proud of.’

Cape Clear Distillery will shortly reopen to investors for its subsequent phases of development, and ‘fun’ investors can redeem their investment against products, as well as the company’s distinctive glassware and other products.

This Friday, anyone wanting to check out this new gin to the market can attend an event at Levis in Ballydehob at 6.30pm, or 7pm the following night at the Schull Harbour Hotel.