Photography by James Gabriel Martin
The family behind Boann Distillery is leading the Irish whiskey renaissance
At Boann Distillery in Drogheda, the Cooney family are carving their own path in the competitive world of the drinks industry. James Gabriel Martin of Leviathan met the family to learn more about what they do.
Boann Distillery is a captivating example of a modern Irish business that blends tradition with a forward-thinking contemporary vision. Located by the River Boyne, it’s named for the Celtic goddess Boann, who, according to legend, was transformed into the river itself, and whose spirit and lifeforce imbues the surrounding area.
The distillery is housed in a beautiful glass-sided building, with a large open-plan room that floods with changing light over the course of the day and the seasons. Inside, warm wooden tones make the space inviting and reminiscent of the past. The working copper stills take pride of place for visitors to see, and there are huge sprawling tables for tastings and special events.
At least seven generations of the Cooney family have lived and farmed on land in the Boyne Valley. The distillery was founded by husband-and-wife team Patrick and Marie Cooney, while their sons Peter, James and Patrick Junior work as director of export sales, financial controller, and national sales manager respectively. Their daughters Celestine and Sally-Anne are also involved in the running of the business, with the latter being responsible for the marketing and hospitality side of things.
Everything from their bottles and brand designs through to the processes utilised in the making of the spirits incapsulates the Cooney family’s passion for the craft and their awareness of the past, present and future. Their pot stills have been specially designed to utilise traditional methods and implement modern techniques in the form of special reflux cooling jackets and patented nano-technology.
One of their ranges, The Whistler, offers diversity and experimentation in the blended and single malt whiskey sphere. This has whiskeys that have been finished in different casks such as oloroso sherry, calvados, rye and stout, as well as a cream liqueur and a sweetened liqueur utilising honey from their own orchards at the foot of the Hill of Tara. Another of their products, Silks Gin, is distilled by hand in small batches and uses botanicals that are hand-foraged, including apple blossom from the trees and elderflower and hawthorn blossom from the hedgerows. A total of 14 botanicals are macerated for 24 hours before being slow-distilled with vapour infusion.
Where their work truly shines however is the Boann Whiskey range that focuses on the revival of triple distilled single pot still whiskey, the quintessential style of Irish whiskey that is unique to this country. This is made from a mixed mash bill of malted and unmalted barley with the inclusions of other grains such as oats, wheat and rye, and is sometimes been described as having a distinctive spicy, complex and elegant mouthfeel.
“On the summer solstice 2024, we released the first core range of Boann Single Pot Still Irish Whiskeys, Marsala, Madeira and Pedro Ximénez. It really was a coming of age for us and with our location in the heart of the Boyne Valley close to Newgrange, I do believe that by fate or design we have aligned ourselves with the old pagan rhythms of this ancient landscape with over 5,000 years of history, myth and legend. Each year on the winter and summer solstices we release a special limited edition single cask, chosen by our team as the most interesting and expressive cask in the warehouse at the time,” Sally-Anne Cooney said.
In late 2020 as Boann came to the one year distilling mark, they embarked on a vintage mash bill campaign with Dr. Fionnán O’Connor PhD, a whiskey historian and author. The idea was to distil ten lost single pot still recipes dating from the 1820s to the 1960s. These whiskey recipes were all mixed mash bills of malt, green barley, oats, wheat and rye. This experimental campaign has informed their house mash bill recipe, which won World’s Best New Make Spirit 2021 in the World Whisky Awards.
“This project has actually led to proposed changes to the Irish Whiskey Geographical Indicator (GI) for Single Pot Still Whiskey at EU Legislation level. By making the results of our campaign open to all and available for structured industry expert tastings, we proved that the documented history of Irish Whiskey was far broader from what the existing technical file allowed. This single experiment will change the course of Irish Whiskey into the future.
The significance of vintage mash bills lies in their ability to capture the distinctive flavours that defined Irish whiskey across different eras. The balance of grains is not just a liquid narrative, but a story interwoven with the politics, landscapes, and social dynamics of the time. By reviving these mash bills, the team not only honours the craftsmanship of past distillers, but also celebrates the deep cultural and culinary legacy of Irish whiskey, ensuring it remains a vibrant part of Ireland’s identity,” Sally-Anne said.
High-quality local ingredients are also used across the different drinks ranges, with the grains being sourced from nearby farmers with Loughrans Family Malt in the Cooley Peninsula, while their yeast is propagated in Wicklow. Even the water used is taken directly from their own deep well in the Boyne Valley.
The distillery also has a focus on sustainability, with a number of commitments in place to protect the environment, including operating a closed-loop water system and utilising solar power to help run the distillery. Each year they plant 1,000 oak trees as part of their barrel sustainability plan.
With a number of large players dominating the whiskey industry both in Ireland and abroad, it’s refreshing and unique to see a family-run business showing such attention to detail in all that they do, and seeing this resonate with markets.
“The joy of working with family is that we all have the same shared vision for the business. Pat, our father, is a drinks industry veteran with nearly 50 years in the trade and whiskey has always been a passion of his from the early days. This passion for business and the drinks industry has been passed down at the kitchen table from when we were all small. We all have distinct roles within the business, which allows us all the room to grow and develop each element without stepping on each other’s toes. There is also a lot of honesty with family, sometimes too much perhaps, but in working together we always have the ability to act quickly if a great opportunity comes our way,” Sally-Anne said.
The next few years will see the family introducing a restaurant and café space to the site, while they are also working on an Irish orchard apple brandy, made with cider apples that is currently maturing in barrels, with the first of that range due to be released in 2026.
Photography by James Gabriel Martin.
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