Grace O’Malley Spirits has launched two special gift box editions of its award-winning Blended Irish Whiskey and Heather Infused Irish Gin for Christmas.

The whiskey is a blend of triple and double distilled malt and grain whiskeys, combining multiple batches of whiskey of varying age statements from three to ten years old. The whiskey is aged in different barrel types including French Oak, American Oak, Bourbon and Rum casks.

The Grace O’Malley brand is the brainchild of Mayo man Stephen Cope, who used to run Lir Chocolates until that business found a new owner in 2015.

In charge of maturation and finishing of the Grace O’Malley spirits is Paul Caris, who previously helped develop the boutique Citadelle gin range in France.

Cope has partnered with Berlin entrepreneurs Stefan Hansen and Hendrick Melle, who have a two-thirds stake in the venture. According to Cope, the capex commitment to date is c.€2m, both for finished stock bought from Great Northern Distillery and new whiskey stock laid down in Dundalk.

In Association with

“Stefan and Hendrick come from a PR background and specialise in brand building,” says Cope. “For instance they buy dog food made in Ireland and sell it in Germany as ‘Irish Pure’. They are not venture capitalists as such; they develop brands and that’s what really locked us in.”

The whiskey Gift Set includes a bottle of the blend and two branded tumblers. The gin Gift Set includes a bottle of the gin and a balloon glass. They retail for €34.43, exclusively at SuperValu stores.