An gin-spirational tour

We all know I love an event and what better way to spend a weekday evening than at the launch of the Rebel City Distillery in-house tours?

The makers of the multi-award-winning Maharani Gin have officially opened to the public as they launched the Rebel City Distillery Tour in their historic dockland’s location, in the repurposed former Ford car factory.

Great gin, a cool setting and a fabulous crowed all combined for a wonderful evening and I could have stayed sipping this gin all evening long.

Founders Robert and Bhagya Barrett combine long-standing craft with a splash of cultural creativity in an iconic setting with the launch of the distillery tours as the next part of the long-term plans for the first distillery in the city in 50 years.

Located in the repurposed Ford factory, a Cork landmark that has lain dormant for decades, the tour gives visitors insight into the distilling and blending processes that created the brand’s first offering, Maharani Gin, and the soon to be released, Ireland’s only publicly available absinthe.

The building alone is worth a visit and myself and my G&T Style Club partner Gill also had a fashion photoshoot here a while back.

The founders were joined by the Deputy Lord Mayor Damian Boylan (on his first official outing) to officially launch then tours. Local media, influencers and friends and family of the distillery were treated to a preview while sipping Maharani G&Ts, before being treated to an exclusive taste of the brand-new absinthe, the first of its kind in Ireland, which they also launched at the event. I didn’t try the absinthe on the night but I am definitely interested in a return visit to sample this and the process alone looked so interesting.

Robert Barrett, Master Distiller and Co-Founder of Rebel City Distillery shared: “Opening our distillery to the public with our tours, and our soon to come Spirits School has always been our plan from the moment we found the location. We want to share the scientific and creative process behind the brand, we can’t wait to show what we have been doing – and how we have been doing it.”

Bhagya Barrett, Co-Founder of Rebel Distillery added: “The concept for Rebel City Distillery has always been to do things a little different, while still connecting with the heritage of the spirits and of the world around us. We have been innovating since we first launched Maharani in 2020, and we are incredibly proud and excited to be producing our next product, Rebel City Distillery Absinthe which will be the only Irish absinthe available.” The absinthe, which is distilled on site in small batches and has handwritten, authentic labels, was created using a base recipe that Rebel City discovered in a French book dated 1871 and given the unique Rebel City twist. Blended with grande wormwood, green anise, and florence fennel, the Rebel City Absinthe pours clear, unlike previous bottles and the signature serve of absinthe and iced water transforms it from crystal clear to a semi opaque white.

Tours will run each Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Rebel City Distillery Unit P6 Marina Commercial Park Marina Commercial Park, Centre Park Road, Cork. Tickets cost €25 and the tours will be given by Aisling Barrett who is the newly appointed tour guide, brand ambassador and head mixologist.

Aisling is so passionate in what she does and will make the tour such a fantastic experience, plus you’ll get to sample some gins after the tour making this a great activity to do with a group of friends or even work colleagues.