Gin Gin Gin

the beer revolu

[Deleted User] wrote: »

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/gin-experience-dublin-2019-saturday-session-530-900pm-tickets-47114559917?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

Has anyone been to this before? Just wondering is it any use? Or is it the usual Irish sh1te of charging a fortune for a ticket then also charging full whack for a drink once you're in the door?

It's sampling inside. All free and plenty to choose from. At, least that was the format last year.

Cheers folks, that's actually great to hear. I might pick up a ticket so.

On a similar note, has anybody ever been to Listoke Gin School? You get to sample a few gins, do a tour of the distillery and then make your own bottle. I was thinking of getting it as a present for somebody, but is it worth the pricetag?

https://listokedistillery.ie/gin-school/

Thephantomsmask

I did the gin school, it was a birthday gift and I thoroughly enjoyed my day. We were given a glass of g&t walking in the door and it was never left empty throughout the visit. The course itself started with a talk on different flavour profiles and tasters of the different types, the basic ingredients in any gin recipe then a tour around the still and an explanation of the process. Then back to the classroom to be guided through how to pick our own profile and distill it. Each person had their own mini alembic and while the distilling was happening we were given a lunch of nibbles and pizzas and able to talk to the other students and staff members before the gins were tested for specific gravity and bottled. Definitely a lot of fun though when it was booked for me originally it was in their old Listoke House location and having to go to the warehouse distillery instead took a bit of the shine off as their website had said how pretty the grounds are.

That's an unbelievably in-depth response, thanks a million. Fair play to ya.

Twee.

I'll be at Gin Experience as well this year. It's the same crowd behind it as Whiskey Live, the samples were certainly flowing at that one! 2018 was huge for new Irish gin so looking forward to trying some of those. I'd definitely recommend sampling neat before adding tonic/mixer, the samples vendors are allowed to offer are small so a good chance of the gin getting drowned out by mixers.

imme

There seems to be no end to new gin brands launching in Ireland, Irish gin manufacturers in particular I'm talking about.

Irish markets seem to know no limits.

It was donut shops in recent years, whiskey launches in the last couple of years is another that springs to mind.

Is there something wrong or inherently immature about the Irish marketplace.

irish_goat

imme wrote: »

There seems to be no end to new gin brands launching in Ireland, Irish gin manufacturers in particular I'm talking about.

Irish markets seem to know no limits.

It was donut shops in recent years, whiskey launches in the last couple of years is another that springs to mind.

Is there something wrong or inherently immature about the Irish marketplace.

It's an easy business to get into. Hire a designer, buy some bottles and phone a distillery. They'll have your product ready to go in no time.

The bars aren't helping matters either by stocking all these "local brands" that are distilled in some other part of the country e.g. Muff gin is available all over the shop up here and is being treated like a local product despite being made at the other end of the island in Cork.

As with most fads, it'll level out soon and plenty of brands will fall away.

Hogzy

Gin is also super quick to make and fetches the same price as a good bottle of whiskey in the Irish market. Id imagine the profit margins on gin are A LOT higher than they are on whiskey too given the fact that Gin doesnt need to be aged in casks for minimum of 3 years.

Hotblack Desiato

Also gins and vodkas give a new distillery the chance to get some quick cash in while their whiskeys are still maturing and can't be sold.

The reason so many whiskey distilleries went bust back in the day was partly due to all the money they had to keep tied up for years in maturing spirit

the beer revolu

I think the Irish market is pretty much saturated at this stage. Any growth for Irish producers will need to come from export.

The Irish market just followed a world trend in an upsurge of gin consumption and of gin brands and producers. There are still emerging markets where the craze is only starting. There is still a big global demand for gin. I'm not sure I'd like to be starting up a small, Irish gin distillery now, though. I suspect that that ship has sailed and we'll see a few businesses fail.

Hogzy

the beer revolu wrote: »

I suspect that that ship has sailed and we'll see a few businesses fail.

Agreed!! Every Irish Gin company seems to charge €40-50 for a bottle of their spirit. They also invest very little in marketing so its impossible to differentiate between them all. Its hard to put that much cash into a gin that mightnt do it for you.

I have tasted a raft of Irish Gin and keep coming back to Dingle. Its one of the cheapest of the craft gins and it never fails to taste lovely regardless of the tonic/garnish it is paired with.

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Hogzy wrote: »

I have tasted a raft of Irish Gin and keep coming back to Dingle. Its one of the cheapest of the craft gins and it never fails to taste lovely regardless of the tonic/garnish it is paired with.

Agreed - its one of the best at that price point. And its a lovely bottle.

Although I have found a new use for the empty Boyles gin bottles - soak the labels off and you are left with a lovely unmarked bottle - pop some string lights in and youve got a cute lamp.

Twee.

This will definitely be the most challenging year, I wonder who we'll still be talking about next year!

A fair few specialist shops will have a tasting bottle under the counter, always worth a polite ask! Lots of Irish gins are now doing 50ml miniatures too, enough for a decent G&T to sample. Celtic Whiskey Shop, L Mulligan and James Fox have a selection.

Twee.

Gin Experience website has been update with companies who are attending https://www.ginexperiencedublin.com/

oneilla

Have Tesco stopped selling their "Finest" London Dy and Aromatic gins?

Quackster

oneilla wrote: »

Have Tesco stopped selling their "Finest" London Dy and Aromatic gins?

Yep. They were flogging remaining stock off for about €13 in recent weeks but I doubt there is any left in any store now.

Replaced now with Limehouse gin which may well be the same product under a different label.

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oneilla wrote: »

Have Tesco stopped selling their "Finest" London Dy and Aromatic gins?

This must be part of the same push that led them to get rid of the Tesco Finest Sloe Gin.

Ive emailed them a few times about it (yes they think I am an alco now) but no one ever responds with any knowledge and in fact one person told them they had never sold it in Ireland (despite me drinking my body weight in it one Xmas).

I will check out Limehouse gin to see if there is a sloe version.

Quackster

....... wrote: »

This must be part of the same push that led them to get rid of the Tesco Finest Sloe Gin.

Ive emailed them a few times about it (yes they think I am an alco now) but no one ever responds with any knowledge and in fact one person told them they had never sold it in Ireland (despite me drinking my body weight in it one Xmas).

I will check out Limehouse gin to see if there is a sloe version.

The Tesco Finest sloe gin has always been on sale in my local, and remains so the last time I checked recently. No sign of it being delisted and remaining stock sold off at a reduced price.

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Quackster wrote: »

The Tesco Finest sloe gin has always been on sale in my local, and remains so the last time I checked recently. No sign of it being delisted and remaining stock sold off at a reduced price.

Really?

I havent been able to locate it in any Tesco in Dublin since last year. I was told it was delisted in March 2018 but there was still stock in some shops til June 2018. The staff even looked it up on their system for me.

Whats your local if you dont mind me asking?

Quackster

....... wrote: »

Really?

I havent been able to locate it in any Tesco in Dublin since last year. I was told it was delisted in March 2018 but there was still stock in some shops til June 2018. The staff even looked it up on their system for me.

Whats your local if you dont mind me asking?

Tralee Square (town centre store). Could be it's old stock that's never shifted but then why did they flog off the other Tesco Finest gins cheaply but keep this on sale at the regular price?

Interestingly, it is gone from the tesco.ie website, which suggests it's been delisted across the country, but it's still on sale on the tesco.com site (whereas the other Tesco Finest gins are gone from the UK site too).

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Quackster wrote: »

Tralee Square (town centre store). Could be it's old stock that's never shifted but then why did they flog off the other Tesco Finest gins cheaply but keep this on sale at the regular price?

Interestingly, it is gone from the tesco.ie website, which suggests it's been delisted across the country, but it's still on sale on the tesco.com site (whereas the other Tesco Finest gins are gone from the UK site too).

Cheers - Im afraid I wont be in Tralee anytime soon to hoover up that last bit of stock

I cant even get a hold of it in NI these days, Tesco Newry and Banbridge dont stock it and they seemed clueless about other Tescos in the area.

I noticed that about the websites alright. The greatest shame of it (besides it probably being healthier for me) is that you literally cannot get a straight answer out of Tesco about it. They really come across as just totally disinterested in a person who wants info about one of THEIR products - Id understand if I was badgering them about Bombay Sapphire or something - but its their bloody own brand!!

Quackster

....... wrote: »

Cheers - Im afraid I wont be in Tralee anytime soon to hoover up that last bit of stock

I cant even get a hold of it in NI these days, Tesco Newry and Banbridge dont stock it and they seemed clueless about other Tescos in the area.

I noticed that about the websites alright. The greatest shame of it (besides it probably being healthier for me) is that you literally cannot get a straight answer out of Tesco about it. They really come across as just totally disinterested in a person who wants info about one of THEIR products - Id understand if I was badgering them about Bombay Sapphire or something - but its their bloody own brand!!

I was beginning to doubt myself so had another peep when I was in this evening and sure enough I wasn't wrong. And on special for €22 at the moment too. Worth checking your local stores again, if you haven't recently, in case they've got new stock in. It doesn't really make sense that one random small store has stock and not a bit of it anywhere else.

Failing that, am in Dublin nearly every week and would be more than happy to bring up a few bottles for a fellow boardsie in need!

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Wow - Ill check it out again alright!

Thanks for your kind offer, I take regular trips to NI and stock up on the Gordons sloe gin so I manage the cravings ok lol!

However, given the info youve provided here I intend to tell a local Tesco that its in Tralee and show them the pic and try to find out if they can get it again!

L1011

Quieter Tesco stores sometimes just seem to ignore the spirits section - there is still a very good chance that it is delisted and Tralee never cleared the stock. It doesn't go off, remember. In 2016 I found a 2005 bottling of Jameson 18 in Santry, battered box, marked down a decent amount and clearly on the shelf for the entire 11 years!

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Ive sent them another email - it follows up on my October 2018 exchange with them where they told me they would follow it up and get back to me and they never got back to me.

Hogzy

L1011 wrote: »

Quieter Tesco stores sometimes just seem to ignore the spirits section - there is still a very good chance that it is delisted and Tralee never cleared the stock. It doesn't go off, remember. In 2016 I found a 2005 bottling of Jameson 18 in Santry, battered box, marked down a decent amount and clearly on the shelf for the entire 11 years!

Nice little profit in that if you were to resell it at auction.

L1011

Hogzy wrote: »

Nice little profit in that if you were to resell it at auction.

I was 18 in 2005 myself, so it was held over to my 30th birthday and has been mostly consumed

gypsy79

Any recommendations for a good cheap gin. Aldi’s Cromwell not sold here anymore??

GBX

I like Hortus gin (Lidl). Nice cheap London Dry Gin

oneilla

gypsy79 wrote: »

Any recommendations for a good cheap gin. Aldi’s Cromwell not sold here anymore??

Tesco Finest London Dry/Aromatic were my go-to and were priced at €22 but they seem to be discontinued. Beefeater is €21 in Dunnes atm and is good. Gordans can be cheap but not so good and Cork dry is bottom of the barrel.