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Aldi Ireland: Gin and whiskey in retail

Aldi Ireland has several top products in its spirit range: Boyle’s Gin from the Blackwater Distillery and Ardfallen Whiskey from the West Cork Distillery, in addition, Mo Chara Passionfruit & Mango Gin from the Old Carrick Mill.

The Blackwater Distillery has been an Aldi partner since 2016 and developed the private label Boyle’s Gin exclusively for the Irish and British retail market. The product volume of the Blackwater Distillery for Aldi has risen strongly in recent years, whereby 140,800 bottles of the gin series were sold in 2018. The successful gin brand is manufactured in Blackwater Valley, West Waterford, with selected imported ingredients as well as regional apples, blackcurrants and elderflower. CEO Peter Mulryan – former TV producer and author of the book ‘The Whiskeys of Ireland’ – explains, “The partnership with Aldi has helped us to increase turnover enormously, and also to have the security to invest and expand. This includes on-site bottling facilities and a visitor centre.” Ardfallen Whiskey from the West Cork Distillery got its name from the region in County Cork where the malted barley comes from, and is only manufactured in small batches. The business was founded in 2003 by childhood friends who started out with only two small stills they had bought in Switzerland. Now the largest distillery in the country, it currently employs over 80 staff and exports to around 70 countries.

Beim World-Spirits Award 2025 gab es Gold für Ardfallen 10 Year Old Whiskey, Dúchas Irish Whiskey, Silver für Ardfallen Triple Cask Whiskey, Boyle‘s Sloe & Damson Gin, Dolmen Honey Moonshine.

Luding Group: Vodka Tchaikovsky as a high-spirited homage to the famous composer

At the beginning of the 1990s, the modern distillery ‘Fortuna’ was launched in a green field in the south of Russia – in the Krasnodar region, a strip of land with spa resorts and health centres. The distillery has specialised in unusual products, in a region with a particularly green fingerprint. The vodka created in honour of the great Russian composer Tchaikovsky is special. The concept for this exceptional product is comparable with one of his musical scores: the work ‘Swan Lake’ served as an inspiration. Art enthusiasts can thus immerse themselves in the history of Russian estate life in the 19th century. The traditional white and blue colours underline the purity of this vodka.

The technical particularities span a wide quality-orientated spectrum: from the selected wheat, their own well water and the special treatment of the distillate with skimmed milk powder to the crystal-clear filtration with active birch coal. With so much perfectionism and monitoring of the individual production steps, the result is an especially gentle, animating and very typical vodka based on wheat. After the diluting of alcohol and pure distillate, the production process is continued with maturation in steel tanks. The aim is to ‘wed’ both ‘waters’, resulting in an especially harmonious vodka.

At the World Spirits Award 2022, Vodka Tchaikovsky was awarded double gold and honoured as the best vodka with the title ‘Spirit of the Year’.

Aber Falls Distillery: Authentic whisky from Wales

The Aber Falls Distillery, opened in 2017, is the first whisky distillery in northern Wales in more than 100 years. It is situated in the village of Abergwyngregyn at the foot of the famous Aber Falls waterfall, which attracts over 50,000 visitors a year. The brand is part of the Halewood portfolio and is led by managing director James Wright along with a team of distillers. Whiskies, gins and liqueurs are made of sustainably sourced regional raw ingredients. Since the first products were brought to market, the brand value has increased and significant growth has been achieved. This allows the team to concentrate on the development of a wide range of whiskies.

Aber Falls pursues a field-to-field approach, a novelty in north Wales, in which only 100% Welsh malted barley is used and all waste from the distillery is given back to local farms, which use it as fertiliser or cattle fodder. The maximisation of local resources ensures that the ingredients are of the highest quality and that the regional economy is supported. Local raw ingredients and local people are the key to making authentic spirits – from the barley from neighbouring farmers to the sourcing of water from the stream next to the distillery. The majority of the team comes from the region and many employees speak both English and Welsh. Apart from a visitor centre, bistro and shop, a farmers’ market is also run with Welsh foods and drinks, to support local producers.

At the World Spirits Award, silver was awarded to Aber Falls Single Malt Whisky.