Killowen Distillery creates new gins for Lidl Northern Ireland

Killowen Distillery has created a new Irish Gin, Hint, exclusively for Lidl as part of their Kickstart Programme and will be available in stores from Thursday 12th August 2021 across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Taking inspiration from the beautiful setting of Killowen Distillery in the heart of the Mourne Mountains in County Down, where horizons are framed by sweeping hills that slope gently into the sea.

The new flavoured gins also draw on childhood memories of summers picking blackberries and pulling rhubarb for homemade desserts. The Killowen team took the finest native botanicals to create the base for the gin then infused it with a blend of locally grown and exotic additions to create two new gins – ‘Blackberry, Orange and Rosemary’ and ‘Rhubarb Heather & Hibiscus’.

Brendan Carty, founder and managing director of Killowen Distillery explains: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with Lidl on the novel gins in what is our first collaboration with a leading supermarket

“We decided to do something completely different. With many blackberry and orange flavoured gins already on the market, we decided to combine these two flavours

“The blackberry with its sweet, slightly tart and earthy undertones balanced with the bittersweet of orange peel needed a little something extra and so for a grounding of flavour we added rosemary.

“The result is an inviting natural fruity aroma. When tasted bursts of blackberry and orange are noted with a gentle background of rosemary balancing so as not to become too sweet.

“For the rhubarb flavour, rather than going for a spiced finish which does work well we wanted to take another route. Taking heather from the area with its mellow floral and sweet character it balanced well against the tart of the rhubarb. To add another depth of flavour and colour hibiscus was chosen for its cranberry like flavour that enhances the tartness of the rhubarb without overpowering the heather.  The hibiscus also gave the gin its pink blush,” he adds.

Killowen is one of Ireland’s leading craft distilleries that also produces whiskey, vodka, rum and poitin. It has developed a reputation for highly innovative spirits.