Shortcross debuts inaugural Irish whiskey

Rademon Estate Distillery has unveiled its first Irish whiskey under the Shortcross brand – a five-year-old single malt.

Shortcross Single Malt Irish Whiskey is said to be the first Irish whiskey wholly distilled and released by a new Irish whiskey distillery in northern Ireland since the 1920s.

The co-founder and head distiller at Shortcross, David Boyd-Armstrong, said: “When laying down these casks of Irish whiskey, we had a vision that we always wanted to create something unique for our first release.

“In doing so, we set ourselves a challenge of sourcing the right casks that would mature the newly created spirit to showcase the unique flavours and aromas of the whiskey.”

The expression is double distilled in copper pot stills, then matured in Grand Cru Classe Bordeaux Red Wine casks for five years. The whiskey has been finished in virgin chinkapin oak casks, and is non-chill-filtered.

Fiona Boyd-Armstrong, co-founder and managing director, said: “This has been the combination of over 10 years’ work in building a new distillery in Northern Ireland with the vision of creating exceptional spirits.

“As the first woman to found and operate a modern whiskey distillery on the island of Ireland, this release feels like a significant chapter for both Rademon Estate Distillery and also the Irish whiskey industry as a whole.”

The limited edition single malt has been bottled at 46% ABV and will be released in December this year.

Shortcross Irish Whiskey is now available to reserve through the Rademon Estate Distillery website, with only 700 bottles available to buy for £300 (US$403.53) each.

In spring next year, the distillery is planning to release a blended whiskey.

In 2019, the company moved into pink gin, launching the first pink expression from its Shortcross Gin brand, called Rosie’s Garden Gin.