With personality, panache and style, Hinch Distillery has forged a superb whiskey engine in the Northern Irish countryside
As you approach this handsome distillery in Ballynahinch, Co Down, the three copper stills at Hinch dominate the courtyard. Situated on the grounds of Killaney Estate, it offers a beautiful purpose-built distillery and visitor centre. Taking its water from the Mourne Mountains, the Hinch Distillery has quickly gathered steam as it generates headlines for its award-winning whiskey and gin products.
With a growing series of superb whiskies in its portfolio, including five- and 10-year-old single malts, blends, and a small batch peated release, it has won fans everywhere that whiskey is poured. All the whiskey at Hinch is triple distilled and hand-crafted while their stills work tirelessly to generate future liquid for this ambitious whiskey maker.
Owned and developed by Terry Cross, it’s a place that celebrates collaboration and a local welcome while exporting to some 30 international markets. It runs a dog-friendly café, works with celebrity actors like James Nesbitt, collaborates with other drink producers, and easily pulls awards to its chest.
Hinch is a distillery sure of its place in the world, and you should get to know it, too. Here are three bottles from our shelves to help get you acquainted.
Hinch Craft & Cask Imperial Stout
This suitably delicious pour from Hinch celebrates the connections between producers in Co Down. Working with near-neighbours Whitewater Brewery in Castlewellan, they produced one of the distillery’s most popular releases.
Hinch delivered casks to Whitewater, filling them with their Imperial Stout to produce their barrel-aged release. The casks then returned to Hinch with the wood swollen with the flavour and personality of this dark beer.
Hinch then gave their small-batch whiskey 11 months of maturation in these stout-infused casks, and the result is a wonderfully flavour-packed whiskey. Part of the Limited Edition series, it’s bottled at 46% and comes layered with notes of dark chocolate, espresso and caramel.
Hinch 10-year-old Sherry
This 10-year-old whiskey is a superb blend of single grain and malt, released at 43%. It’s part of the core range at the heart of the distillery’s lineup.
After initial maturation in ex-bourbon, the whiskey received a 12-month finish in oloroso sherry casks. It’s an earthy, rich whiskey with a golden red hue derived from the oloroso cask. It easily captures the dark fruit and nutty aftertaste from the sherry while layering lots of vanilla, oak and subtle spice from both cask types.
This is a wonderfully gentle and sweet pour, triple distilled and bursting with flavour.
Hinch Peated Single Malt
The light golden colour of this rich single malt belies the punch of peat that sits at its heart. One of a small but quickly growing number of peated whiskies in the Irish category, this release is heavily peated and celebrates all the flavours that fans love: sweet tar, smoke, heavy wood and loads of fruit.
It’s aroma-heavy, too, with smoke, cinnamon, spice and caramel leading you to a deep smoke experience. You’ll find notes of liquorice in this bottle alongside barbecued meats and charred herbs. It’s a beautiful diversion from the norm for Irish whiskey fans.
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