Silks Irish Gin is brand new, and is the first gin release from the family owned Boann Distillery in Co Meath. The name “Silks” is inspired by the colourful jockey silks worn at the historic Bellewstown racecourse that can been seen from the distillery.

Mother and Daughter team, Marie and Sally Anne Cooney, looked to the family apple orchard when looking for inspiration for the botanical ingredients for their new gin. The idea was born when they captured a swarm of bees that landed on a neighbours gate back in 2016. Both Marie and Sally Anne took a beekeeping course with the Federation of Irish BeeKeepers a number of years previously but it wasn’t until this time that they caught the bees and brought them home in the back seat of the car, that they established a sunshine apiary at the foot of the hill of Tara to pollinate the 6500 apple trees in the 30 acre orchard.

The original swarm is long gone but the hives and honey remain with the family orchard providing the signature botanicals for Silks Gin – honey from the bees, apple blossom picked directly from the trees and elderflower and hawthorn blossom foraged from the hedgerows. Silks Gin contains 14 botanicals that are macerated for 24 hours before slow distilling with vapour infusion in a 500Ltr custom copper “Bennett” pot still. The unique botanical combination and distillation technique creates a floral forward contemporary style gin with bright citrus aromas.

This month we want you to create wonderful cocktails, and Sally Anne has given us her signature cocktail recipe called the Silks Apple Bee. You’ll see a great picture overleaf of how it should look, garnished with a slice of red apple, though ours don’t always turn out that pretty. We’ve included all you’ll need to make your very own Apple Bee at home, with true provenance too! The sunshine honey pots come from the family’s apiary while the apple juice comes from Olan McNeece’s family farm just down the road.

Lastly, Sally Anne wanted you to be able to do your bit to help keep bee’s and other natural pollinators, so she has included some wildflower seeds for you to sow in your own garden. A lovely touch from a lovely lady, who is heavily invested in bio diversity and loves what she does – her passion is infectious! When all is done, relax, with an Apple Bee, and some Clinton’s – a local crisp made not too far away from the distillery in North county Dublin. Seven generations later they are producing what I believe to be one of Irelands finest crisps. A big statement – we hope you agree!

Enjoy this month’s gin and please tag us in social media @theginbox.ie using #ginbox when you do! Cheers and enjoy!
From all of us at TheGinBox.ie