Husband and wife team dream up a winning gin
A Dundalk couple who developed their own gin have just won best Irish Distilled gin of the year 2019 at the Irish Gin Awards.
Tom and Nicola Grills only set up their company Sixling just over a year ago and are thrilled to have won a Gold Medal Winner for Distilled Gin of the Year and a Silver Medal Winner for Gin Newcomer of the Year
‘We were living together in London and could see the gin boom really take off over there and we were really passionate about it - we would attend gin festivals and go on distillery tours all the time,’ says Nicola. ‘We don’t come from a distilling background - Tom was in finance for 13 years and I was a primary school teacher.’ ‘We were so passionate about gin that we decided when we moved home in 2016 we’d go for it.’
They spent two years developing Sixling, putting in put a huge amount of much time and effort into both the liquid and the brand.
‘ The cloudberry is a great talking point as it really intrigues consumers,’ explains Nicola. ‘Not many people are aware, but cloudberries were actually abundant in Ireland up until the 1800’s but are now almost extinct. Once distilled into the gin the cloudberries give a stunning fruity floral tasting gin, with a smooth herbal finish. We source our cloudberries from Scandinavia to give consumers a truly unique taste experience - a chance to rediscover a forgotten flavour of ancient Ireland.’ They also use locally sourced Cooley Mountain elderflower with an additional 8 botanicals for a unique taste.
Sixling is distilled in the old Harp Brewery, now Great Northern Distillery, and Nicola hopes that it will lead to more jobs as the brand grows.
During the summer they won a gold medal at The Global Gin Masters in the contemporary category and just last week they were awarded ‘Best Irish Distilled Gin 2019’ at the Irish Gin Awards as well as getting a silver for ‘Best Newcomer’.
Sixling is available locally in most bars and from the off-licence in Spar on the Carrick Road and can be purchaseed online at sixlinggin.ie.