Let me tell you a bit about Boatyard Gin.  A farm to bottle operation, Boatyard Gin Distillery is located on the banks of Lough Erne in North West Ireland. Joe McGirr used his sizeable drink industry experience along with his family’s rich history in farming to set up the first legal distillery in Fermanagh in 130 years.

They macerate their botanicals in their organically produced wheat spitit. Then a really unusual juniper filtration process sees Boatyard Gin use the double contact method to give a much more pronounced juniper flavour.  The gin then rests for a minimum of two weeks before bottling. Not common.  They also don’t chill filter their gin which leaves more of the juniper oil in the gin. Resulting in juniper rich drink.


Have you ever noticed some gins go slightly cloudy when you mix them? This is because they haven’t taken steps to make it clear.  The pearlescent hue is called louche. Some distillers choose to keep it, others don’t like the appearance. It’s a completely personal take and I see positives to both sides. I love a sparkling clean drink but also love the look of the slightly oily swirl in some.

Boatyard Double Gin

Bottled at 46%.
Lemon peel, juniper, corriander, liquorice root, angelica, orris, grains of paradise and hand forraged sweet gale from the family bog come together to make this Irish spirit. 

To taste it has a spiced heat and isn’t too smooth, but this was never designed to be a sipping gin. It comes into it’s own when mixed with a decent tonic. If you want to know a bit more about which tonics I recommend then check out a post I wrote giving a handy breakdown of some favourites – The Best Tonics For Your Next G&T. Those promised lemon notes start to sing and you still get a beautiful heat but more restrained behind a piney juniper burst. Not a wallflower gin this spirit smacks you in the face and calls you daisy. Its fresh, it has life and lingers long after the last sip.

Boatyard Old Tom

Bottled at 46%.
Old Tom is sweeter than a London Dry but drier than a Dutch Genever. Hard to get right there are very few Old Toms that hit the mark.
Boatyard take their Double Gin and rest it in casks for four months before sweetening with Fermanagh honey. I love that they keep the feeling of place by using the local honey. 
To taste I get a lovely vanilla undertone with deep fruity notes from the cask aging I presume. I still get a great juniper boost and the honey is so subtle that it sweetens without making this seem like a liqueur.  I get a really great orange flavour – like an orange gummy sweet coming through which I found really moreish.  The recommended mix is ginger ale and apple and it really does work well. I liked it with a spicier ginger ale than I usually drink. The juniper in this gin can stand up to a lot of flavour. One of my favourite Old Toms to date!

I seriously urge people to seek out Boatyard Gin. It is exciting and innovative but within the boundsries of proper gin!

Thanks so much to Neil at Gin and Life (Here’s where you can catch up with all Neil’s work) for setting up #myginnyvalentine He got together a bunch of gin lovers and made up a secret santa type of affair. I sent some Pickering 1947 on to Aislinn at Ginfinity and Beyond (Check out her Insta here) and I was kindly sent Boatyard gin by the lovely Rachel at Gin Girl All The Way – check out her amazing serves GinGirlAllTheWay.

Pam