Chinnery Gin set to reach out to the export market
By Maurice Garvey
BALLYMOUNT-based Chinnery Gin continue to grow after launching last year, and are preparing to export their high-end product after a steady run in the domestic market.
Gin geeks David Havelin and Marie Byrne previously operated Chinnery Spirits Ltd out of an incubation centre in IT Tallaght, having graduated the New Frontiers programme.
David Havelin, Leah Kilcullen, Dr Patrick Conner and Marie Byrne at a talk on George Chinnery and all things gin in the Chester Beatty Library
This year they moved their distillery to a larger space in Ballymount and are now preparing the brand for export.
On August 7, they hosted a talk at the Chester Beatty Library, to discuss the life of George Chinnery and all things gin.
They welcomed Dr Patrick Conner, author of the definitive book on George Chinnery’s life and work, to the library for the talk.
Dr Conner, Director of the Martyn Gregory Gallery in London, has given talks on the artist all over the world, however The Echo understands this was his first such talk in Dublin.
“It was a wonderful evening, with all present gaining a new appreciation for the artistic output of a fascinating character,” said distiller Havelin.
Havelin delivered a presentation at the event, on the old China trade’s influence on Dublin and how that is captured in the flavours and aromas of Chinnery Gin – with attendees enjoying samples and cocktails.
He spent several years in the 1990s living in Guangzhou, or Canton as it was once known – a famous trading route between China and the West.
While in Asia, he kept seeing paintings by English painter George Chinnery (1774-1853), whose portraits of prominent merchants and figures living in the region are of immense historical value, as he was the only western artist resident in South China in the early and mid-19th century.
According to Havelin, Chinnery Gin captures some of the romance of the old China trade and incorporates ten botanicals, including Osmanthus Flower, Oolong Tea and Sweet Orange Peel.
It is available at 70 off-licences around the country, including Molloy’s and O’Brien’s, and is also at many bars, restaurants and hotels, as well as being sold in The Loop at Dublin Airport and on Irish Ferries.
