Introduction: At The Shed Distillery of PJ Rigney, crafting premium spirits intertwines with Ireland’s cultural tapestry. Located in the ‘wild and unmanicured’ landscape of County Leitrim, the distillery is globally renowned for making artisanal spirits, most notably its flagship Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin.
In this exclusive feature for The Moodie Davitt Report, the company highlights its focus on authenticity, storytelling and sustainability. Senior Reporter Ameesha Raizada hears from Co-Founder Patrick J. (PJ) Rigney about The Shed Distillery’s partnership with Duty Free Global and its travel retail distribution strategy.
During the winter solstice of 2014, husband and wife team PJ and Denise Rigney founded The Shed Distillery of PJ Rigney with a vision to craft spirit brands that would compete with the best in the world.
In 2017, The Shed Distillery made headlines as its whiskey officially came of age after three years and a day, with its first cask valued at €100,000 (US$108,053). Hundreds travelled to Drumshanbo to toast Connacht province’s first whiskey in 104 years.
Today its brands are sold in over 80 countries across Asia, Australia, the USA, Europe, South America and Africa. The company noted that its flagship Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin, released in the summer of 2016, is one of the fastest-growing gin brands in the world.
PJ Rigney says: “To catch the attention of consumers, the brand must be exceptional. Above all, consumers prize authenticity, provenance and a genuine story that they can connect with on a human level.”
The flagship gin is slow distilled by hand with oriental botanicals and gunpowder tea in state-of-the-art medieval copper pot and column stills, tailor made by Arnold Holstein in Germany.
Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin features ingredients that PJ Rigney discovered during his travels across Asia, Africa and Europe over two decades.
In India, he was inspired by the spice markets, where he found shahi tukra (bread pudding) and the powerful cardamom seed. He brought back kaffir limes from Cambodia, lemons and gunpowder tea from China, orris root from Morocco and juniper berries from Macedonia.
He eventually selected 12 botanicals and experimented with different blends to achieve the perfect recipe. The gin balances citrus, juniper and spice with an infusion of gunpowder tea, meadowsweet and coriander.
The meadowsweet, which grows wild in Drumshanbo woodlands, is handpicked by Head Distiller Brian Taft and his 13-year-old daughter.
Rigney adds: “The premium taste, quality and attention to detail strikes a chord with shoppers and that’s reflected in sales internationally.
“Merely six weeks after launching, Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin was voted Ireland’s best gin by the public at the national Gin & Tonic Festival.”
The distillery places strong emphasis on storytelling through its products. The Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin bottle design features Chinese script, a copper-finished seal, an old-world map and a hand-sketched botanical booklet.
The Shed Distillery focuses on quality rather than quantity for its whiskey, producing it in small batches and allowing it to mature without being rushed.
Rigney says: “When the ambition is to create world-class Irish whiskey, there can be no deadline. As curators we must be patient as extraordinary whiskeys evolve at their own pace.”
Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey is triple distilled with malted and unmalted Irish barley and Barra oats. The deep amber liquid has no added colour or chill filtration.
Taft manages every step of its distillation process, balancing ingredients through milling and fermentation with careful attention to temperature and timing adjustments.
He taste-tests directly from the casks at monthly, sometimes weekly, intervals until it balances the different flavours and aromas from the pot still, sherry oloroso and Kentucky bourbon casks.
Penetrating key markets
The Drumshanbo line-up also features Sausage Tree Pure Irish Vodka, Gunpowder Irish Gin with Sardinian Citrus, Galánta Single Malt Irish Whiskey, Gunpowder Irish Gin with California Orange and the recently launched Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey Marsala Cask.
The company has successfully penetrated all US states, including control states, and government-monopoly markets such as Canada, Finland, Sweden and Norway.
Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin is available through leading retail groups and stores in Ireland, the UK, the USA, Canada, France, Benelux, South Africa, Malaysia and Switzerland.
In the USA, it is listed with Target, Whole Foods and Macy’s. In Europe, shoppers can find it at Carrefour, Gall & Gall, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Monoprix, Asda, Vons, M&S, Nicola, Metro, Globus and Dunnes Stores, among others.
The premium spirit brands from The Shed Distillery also have a strong presence in travel retail with airport listings across London, New York, Sydney, Cape Town, Paris, Rome, Montreal, Hong Kong and Dubai.
Rigney says: “The modern consumer is well-travelled, educated and exposed to the best brands from every part of the world. They are selective in their brand choice.
“Typically, they drink less and thus are happy to spend more on experiences and premium quality. Consumers want their curiosity piqued by a brand that captures the imagination.”
The Shed Distillery’s primary audience is the discerning 30-something with a disposable income. However, the appeal of Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin extends beyond this demographic.
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The company actively promotes its brands on social media, investing in innovation to boost consumer engagement
One with the community
The Shed Distillery inaugurated its Visitor Experience in 2021, offering customers a behind-the-scenes tour. The €3.5 million (US$3.85 million) project also encompasses the Jackalope Café and a gift shop featuring exclusive bottlings.
Rigney notes: “Consumers really want to connect with a brand. It’s about embarking on the curious journey of discovering the oriental botanicals and gunpowder tea they are tasting.”
Last year, The Shed Distillery bought uncultivated land in rural Drumshanbo and designated it as a nature reserve.
The distiller is working closely with local farmers to learn the best ecological and preservation approaches. It has recently introduced sustainable beehives to contribute to the ecological system.
Rigney emphasises: “From the very beginning we had a shared ethos, a joint vision of partnership, sustainability and employment in a thriving rural community.”
The company is certified Origin Green by Bord Bia, which designates environmental and sustainability standards for food and drink producers in Ireland.
He adds: “We actively minimise environmental impact and promote sustainability throughout our production processes. This includes prioritising fair-trade practices and sourcing natural ingredients.
“We have also implemented efficient water-management systems, recycling and reusing our water to provide heat energy for distillation. We also invest in renewable energy solutions to further the transition to clean energy sources.
“All of our spent grain – including Irish Barra oats and barley – is given to the local farming community to feed the local Drumshanbo cattle.”
Driving duty-free sales
Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin has maintained a prominent presence at Dublin Airport and it is available at more than 70 airports worldwide, including Paris Charles De Gaulle, Frankfurt, New York John F. Kennedy International, Hong Kong International, Montréal–Trudeau International and Dubai International.
Last year, The Shed Distillery renewed its contract with Duty Free Global to represent Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin in global travel retail for a further six years.
Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin is available in over 80 countries and is listed with major travel retailers including Aer Rianta International; DFS (in the Americas); Dubai Duty Free; Lotte Duty Free Singapore; Gebr. Heinemann; Avolta; and Lagardère Travel Retail.
Rigney says: “Duty Free Global understands the power of the people behind the brand meeting the travel retail trade.
“Together we bring The Shed Distillery brands to life at travel retail events and exhibitions across the world, including the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes, the IAADFS Summit of the Americas in Florida and TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition in Singapore.
“We reinvest every cent we make and put major focus on travel retail channels and continue to invest in promotions and customer activations across global duty-free.”
This year the company has launched two travel retail exclusives, including the limited-edition Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin Year of the Dragon ceramic bottle adorned with gold foil and the Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin Brazilian Pineapple edition.
As reported, The Shed Distillery hosted its first high-impact activation in March at London Heathrow Airport in partnership with Avolta. It highlighted the launch of a travel retail-exclusive ceramic bottling (1-litre) of Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin.
Additionally, Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin with Sardinian Citrus and Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin with California Orange were first launched exclusively in travel retail before hitting wider sales channels.
Rigney says: “The key with travel retail is to move at pace, innovate constantly and continue to excite and delight consumers with the unexpected.”
Playing the long-term game
Rigney notes: “Duty Free Global and Barry Geoghegan are outstanding long-term partners in the travel retail space. We’re thrilled to be working with them.
“The right partner in travel retail is one who has passion and is not afraid of hard work. Duty Free Global’s insight into the travel retail consumer has been fundamental to our approach. They move quickly and have great relationships with the airports.”
Duty Free Global’s insight into the travelling shopper has been fundamental to the distiller’s innovations, including the introduction of travel-exclusive stock keeping units at the TFWA World Exhibition in 2018.
“As the gin boom cools off, the pressure on brands to survive and thrive among the thousands of gins out there is immense,” adds Rigney.
The distiller’s goal for Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin is to be among the leading ten super-premium gin brands that will remain relevant in the long term.
Despite the slowdown in overall gin growth, travel retail in Europe is defying the trend, projecting a 13% compound annual growth rate for gin from 2021 to 2026.
Over the past 18 months, the company has significantly expanded its presence in cruise travel retail, partnering with P&O Cruises, MSC Cruises, Cunard, Tallink Grupp and Irish Ferries.
Rigney says: “We are also expanding our in-flight presence and have had a huge acceleration in interest from international airlines after Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin as listed by all of Ireland’s air travel operators – most notably Aer Lingus, the Irish national airline and Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline.”
Both airlines now feature Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin across all routes, reaching millions of passengers on over 100 routes.
Ryanair carried 150 million passengers last year, while Aer Lingus has expanded its North America network significantly, including new routes such as Dublin to Cleveland.
In the USA, a key market, Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin is listed in all 50 states and is rapidly gaining market share.
It is now served on all routes departing from Dublin to cities such as New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, Orlando, San Francisco and Toronto.
The brand’s long-term plans include achieving a turnover exceeding €50 million, underscoring the critical role of travel retail in realising this objective.
Rigney says: “It’s a long game that requires patience, not one for the fainthearted. That’s the ethos of our family business though – it’s about passion and people, intense but exhilarating.
“As my late dad Seamus Rigney used to say, ‘The short-term car park is generally full but there are always spaces in the long-term park’.” ✈
All images courtesy of The Shed Distillery
