Drioglann Cléire – Cape Clear Distillery
Newsletter – July 2019
New Office and Staffing
We are very pleased to have moved into our new office overlooking the distillery building against the background of Roaringwater Bay, which inspires our gin and whiskey. This coincided with our first employee, Treasa Ní Ceadagáin who has been doing trojan work towards getting us started.
We also have a small merchandise shop beside the office, stocking all our branded t-shirts, hats, bags and with our fabulous selection of branded glassware on the way. Fáilte roimh Treasa go dtí an foireann. Ar aghaidh go pras, tá obair ag fanacht orainn!
Wiring and CCTV
We are now to be fully fitted with CCTV and burglar alarms to Revenue standards installed by O’Mahony Security Ltd. Another significant step taken towards the final goal. Bhí na Leaids seo éifeachtach agus geal gáireach agus iad i mbon a gcuid dúlgaisí agus ba dheas iad a bheith linn don lá.
Health and Environmental Officer
We also had a very successful visit from the health and safety officer recently. She was very happy if not quite complimentary about the progress made since her first visit. There are only some relatively minor improvements required according to her recommendations and these are well in hand. Táimíd ag obair go dian dícheallach ar na moltaí seo.
Bottling Machine
A welcomed arrival from Italy during the week was our bottling plant. This is a major step towards getting our final product out onto the shelves and in the hands of you the consumer. Measaimíd go bhfuil cuma iontach ar an trealamh seo agus táimíd ar bís chun é a chur in úsáid.
Údarás na Gaeltachta
Our flag flew high to welcome Údarás na Gaeltachta Máire Ní Shé to the Distillery for the first time on Monday the 9th of July. She too was very happy to see the progress of the Distillery and the benefits a business like Drioglann Cléire can bring to the island, both directly and indirectly. With the help of the Údarás our ‘clár teanga’ was further developed which hopes to strengthen the link between business and the Gaeltacht. Is í an Ghaeilge gnáth teanga oibre na hoifige.
Bottles
We show our first consignment of bottles which arrived recently as planned. This was an exciting day for us and we were glad of some extra hands to have them stacked and ready for production. Bhí fáilte mór roimh an lámh cúnta ó Patsi agus Seán.
Revenue
We also hosted our penultimate visit by the Customs and Excise people who have confirmed that the paperwork for the license is now complete is being forwarded for approval. It may or may not happen that a further query will arise and we shall deal with that promptly if it happens.
Our Recipe
We feel that a lot of work has been done on our recipe which will stand us in good stead into the future. We strongly feel that the product in our bottles should meet the highest expectations of our customers and getting there takes time and effort. We say mile buíochas to our dedicated team. Ní fiú jab a dheanamh gan é a dheanamh go maith.
First 1,000 Bottles
We show the almost final version of the label for our first 1,000 bottles. These will be numbered from 1 to 1,000 and will be sold through a local licensed intermediary. The bottles will retail at €40 and shareholders will receive a discount of 10%, thus a shareholders price of €36. We propose to hold a public draw in Club Cléire to determine who gets number nos. 1 to 300. The rest will be sold on a first come, first served basis. As soon as the license and the first distillations are confirmed the offer to purchase these unique bottles will be also be open the public. Meanwhile shareholders who wish to prepurchase these first bottles can do so by transferring multiples of €36 to our new account Drioglann Cléire, AIB, Skibbereen, Co Cork IE45AIBK93637515816004. The transfer should include a reference to the sender and an email should also be sent to confirm. The cost does not include transport so bottles can be held awaiting collection or delivered via the formidable Cape Clear Island network of friends and supporters. Sweat investors who have not yet received their shares are also included in this offer as are shareholders in local private companies which have invested in us. Beidh spóirt again leis an crannchur seo agus cé gur fada uainn an lá tá sé ag teacht.
It Hasn’t Been Easy
The last few weeks and months have been difficult and challenging and there are hurdles still to come. But we have, nevertheless made relentless progress towards our goal and we are optimistic that the first distillation is not far off now and , we earnestly hope, to be announced in the next e-news.
Our mailing address is:
Cape Clear Island Distillery
Cape Clear Island
County Cork
Ireland
