The maker of Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin has teamed up with Italian mixologist Bruno Vanzan for a variation of the spirit based around ingredients from Italy.
Infused with Tuscan juniper, viola fig and Italian laurel, the Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin Bruno Vanzan edition is to be launched by The Shed Distillery in Düsseldorf, Germany, this weekend at ProWein, the largest trade fair for the spirits industry.
It will be available to customers in Ireland next week with Italy designated for its first launch internationally.
Mr Vanzan is a twice world-champion mixologistand has more than 800,000 social media followers.
Shed Distillery co-founder Pat Rigney said: “Bruno came to us with a number of ideas and this is about bringing some further excitement to the brand.
“He’s a high profile mixologist, and a TV star in Italy. He’s a twice world champion bartender and respected around the world.
“We saw it as an opportunity to work with him to develop a new expression [of Gunpowder Irish Gin] and to take the brand further forward.”
Mr Vanzan started working in the bar industry at the age of 17 when he got a job in a venue on the outskirts of Rome. The Shed Distillery said he invented the first four-piece cocktail shaker for bars and last year made headlines when he launched a bar work station for people with disabilities.
Mr Rigney described current trading as “challenging”, with the threat of tariffs from US president Donald Trump casting a shadow over transatlantic trade. “January and February were strong, but we have been investing heavily in promotion to make sure our price is premium but accessible,” he said.
The European Union has threatened to impose tariffs on bourbon whiskey from April 1st as part of a package of measures in retaliation to the US move to levy imports of European steel and aluminium. Mr Rigney described this move as “hugely disappointed and deeply unhelpful” for his industry.
“If you go back to 1997 there was an agreement between the US and the EU for zero tariffs on spirits,” Mr Rigney said. “And we obviously want that to continue. They’re [the EU] threatening to put tariffs on bourbon, but I would hope they wouldn’t because it’s zero for zero at the moment. The EU should rethink that.”
Based in Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim, the Shed Distillery was founded by Mr Rigney and his wife Denise Rigney, and it produces gin, vodka and whiskey. Its Gunpowder gin brand is the flagship product. It also operates a visitor centre at the distillery.
In the year to the end of September 2023, it made a pretax profit of €3.8 million on turnover of €18.3 million. It closed the year with accumulated profits of €15.2 million and just under €5 million in cash.
