Trade alliance Defiant Irish Spirits to launch at Bloom Festival
Brands work together to collectively market, sell and communicate their products to national and international hospitality and retail sectors
Announcing the launch of Defiant Irish Spirits, a trade alliance of six independent modern, premium Irish drinks brands. The brands are working together to create a unique team that can collectively market, sell and communicate their products to national and international hospitality and retail sectors.
This is being done by hiring brand ambassadors that represent all six companies and sharing the one social media channel with content solely produced for the trade & bartender community.
Defiant Irish Spirits is comprised of:
Blood Monkey: Blood Monkey Irish Gin brings a new taste profile to gin lovers – based on the original 17th century Genever recipe. Blood Monkey has been designed as a sipping gin – one of only a few gins that can be drunk neat as well as in a traditional gin & tonic and whiskey cocktails. It was awarded “Best Contemporary Gin in Ireland” at the World Gin Awards.
Coole Swan: Coole Swan was born to reinvent Irish cream for a modern world. It is an unruly re-creation of a classic Irish product, a perfect blend of whiskey, chocolate and cream. Wine Enthusiast scored it 96/100 and described it as, “the pinnacle of quality.”
Foxes Bow: With a distinct lack of respect for rules and a severe impatience with the status quo, Foxes Bow is a whiskey for everyone. But it won’t be for everyone. Inspired by the popularity of rye whiskey in Toronto and San Francisco, Foxes Bow were eager to explore the impact of rye on Irish whiskey. So they added a rye cask finish to their first release.
istil 38 Craft Irish Vodka: istil 38’s crisp clean aromas truly set it apart from the crowd. These are the products of a carefully refined distillation process. specifically designed to create a smooth, rounded full flavoured Irish vodka. The result? istil 38 tastes just as stunning over ice as it does with a splash of your favourite mixer.
Mad March Hare Poitín: For centuries poitín was an illicit spirit but was made legal again in 1997 and can now be found on back bars all across Ireland instead of under the counter. Today Mad March Hare is proud to be leading the revolution as the world’s number one poitín brand. It is made with locally sourced West Cork barley and distilled traditionally three times in copper pot stills.
Two Shores: Two Shores is a unique premium golden rum, handcrafted in Panama and hand finished in Ireland. Sustainably sourced, superior golden rum distilled using only pure sugar cane in the heart of Central America that is finished further for a minimum of six months on the west coast of Ireland in a range of hand selected Irish whiskey casks. It recently won four golds at the World Rum Awards, including Best in Ireland.
Defiant Irish Spirits will be officially launched at Bord Bia’s Bloom Festival in Phoenix Park taking place 1 to 5 June. It will have its own stand at the Bloom Inn where each brand will be showcasing a signature serve and cocktail.
“Each of our brands is very much going against the grain of much larger companies and sit so well together as a portfolio,” said Alice Carroll of Foxes Bow.
“By taking a unified approach, not only can we pool resources but we can reduce our operational costs by sharing the ambassadors or by sharing stands at bar shows and promotional events, such as our launch at Bloom. It is a far more efficient use of all our time.
“We are also trying to make the trade buyers’ lives easier. Instead of 6 individual brands looking for time to discuss their products with bars or off-licences, we have all the main spirits categories represented in our portfolio, and by working with us, the bars are showing they are supporting local Irish brands.”
Shane Davey of istil 38 added: “With istil 38, our social media pages have to be geared towards the public to best deliver our messaging around our core values and at home serves. But we’ve seen the need to create content that specifically speaks to our cocktail making craft bartenders.
“The Defiant Irish Spirits Instagram page allows us to do just that. We can share videos and photos that are tailor made to inspire and educate bartenders about our six exemplary spirits and how they can be best enjoyed. Each of the teams behind the brands, brings with them a different set of skills and expertise. Defiant Irish Spirits allows us to utilise each other’s trade and industry knowledge in order to be more than the sum of our part.”
