THE Rademon Estate Distillery in Co Down has landed a new US distribution deal, that will see its whiskey and poitín sold across five states.
David and Fiona Boyd-Armstrong’s Crossgar distillery, best known for its Shortcross gin and whiskey, has secured an agreement with Preiss Imports.
It will see Rademon’s Shortcross Irish Whiskey, Shortcross Poitín and its Irish Whiskey Bonding Company Blended Irish Whiskey, products go into hotels, bars and restaurants in California, New York, New Jersey, Nevada and South Carolina.
The Boyd-Armstrongs have been trading from the 500–acre Rademon Estate since 2012. Their drinks business has now grown into a busy distillery that hosts tours and visitor experiences.
They have continued to expand their drinks portfolio, adding its Rye & Malt Irish Whiskey and a new poitín release last year.
“Our new Shortcross Whiskey is amongst the first Irish Whiskey’s to be wholly distilled and released by a new Irish Whiskey distillery in Northern Ireland since the 1920’s and we’re delighted that it is already growing in popularity,” said David Boyd-Armstrong.
“Once the spirit of rural Ireland, poitín has made a remarkable comeback over the last 20 years which is why we created our very own using 100 per cent Irish cereals.”
Rademon already have a foothold stateside with its Shortcross Gin.
“We’re utilising this inmarket knowledge to grow our share of the US Irish whiskey and poitín markets,” added David.
“Since launching, we’ve been blown away by the interest we’ve received for both products in countries around the world. Not only are our bottles currently making their way to the US, but we’ve also secured our first entry into the Netherlands with bottles set to be on shelves and online in the first quarter of this year.”
The Co Down distillery has received support from Invest NI, inclyding marketing assistance as well as a Covid-19 Productive Investment Capital Grant (PICG), which was designed to help businesses to adapt to, and recover from the challenges of the pandemic.
“The support has helped us to diversify the capabilities of our business, improve productivity in blending and bottling our new whiskey and supported us to position both our whiskey and poitín brands more competitively,” said Mr Boyd-Armstrong.
“We’re really looking forward to the new era in our business and building our exports globally.”
Invest NI’s food and drink director, John Hood, said: “Our relationship with Rademon Estate has grown over the years and it has been fantastic to watch the company grow into a world-renowned brand with new innovative products coming on board.
“The valuable support we have offered Rademon has enabled the company to develop new products and bring those products to market to grow their exports.”
