Whiskey and poitin from Downpatrick will soon be on the menu in bars and restaurants from as far afield as California and New York after Rademon Estate Distillery signed a deal with a US distributor.
Preiss Imports will distribute the company’s Irish Whiskey Bonding Company Blended Irish Whiskey; Shortcross Irish Whiskey and its Shortcross Poitín in the two regions, as well as New Jersey, Nevada and South Carolina. In addition, it has secured a deal to sell its whiskey and poitin in the Netherlands, with bottles set to be on shelves and available online in the first quarter of this year.
The relatively new products to Rademon’s stable will join its Shortcross Gin which has been growing its share of the US market in recent years, as well as in other parts of the world.
“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,” David Boyd-Armstrong, Co-Founder and Head Distiller at Rademon Estate Distillery, said. “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.”
Invest Northern Ireland worked with the company to understand the US market. Most recently, the Rademon received support through the Covid-19 Productive Investment Capital Grant (PICG), developed by Invest NI to help businesses to adapt to, and recover from the challenges of Covid-19.
“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,” John Hood, Invest NI’s Director of Food & Drink, said. “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.”
