Pat from Boann Distillery

Boann distillery is a family-run business in the heart of the Boyne Valley in Ireland, beside the mystical River Boyne. Voted World’s Best New Make and Young Spirit at the World Whiskies awards 2021, the Cooney family are true pioneers in the Irish whiskey industry and have worked with the Irish government to change the legislation on single Irish pot still whiskey. 

The distillery is named after the Irish Goddess Boann, who, according to legend, created the River Boyne. The river has huge historical and mythological significance in Irish culture, instilling in the soul a sense of mysticism. Boann distillery takes great pride in reviving the ancient traditions of Ireland’s master distillers and creating the finest whiskeys in the world. 

We were very excited to meet with the owner of Boann distillery, Patrick Cooney, to discuss the secrets of Boann’s success and how he and his brave distillery have made such a significant mark on the Irish whiskey industry today. 

What was your earliest memory of whiskey? What led you to this industry?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drinking whiskey, probably since I was about 15 years old. By profession, I was an accountant and went to London to study economics. I always wanted to do something for myself, but being young, foolish and having no money, it wasn’t easy to do something for myself. So the first thing I started was a little wholesale company down in a little village in Tipperary. It began as a small little company, and we built it up to be the largest wholesaler and wine importer with more than 700 workers, and then sold the company in 2014. I always wanted to have a whiskey distillery, so I set up Boann distillery as a retirement project. I’ve always been a pot still man, which is now the subcategory of whiskey that everybody is interested in and talking about. 

Why Boan? Tell us more about it. What’s your philosophy? What makes it so distinct?

We’re in the Boyne valley here in Ireland. The Boyne valley is probably the most mythologically famous site, certainly in Ireland and probably even in Europe. We’ve got the oldest building in the world, called New Grange, which predates the pyramids by about 500 years. 

What makes us so distinct is that we are dedicated to pot still whiskey. There’s only one other distillery in Ireland that has the equipment to make pot still apart from Irish distillers. Pot still was kind of the forgotten cousin of the whiskey industry, but it is what Irish whiskey was and what I hope to make Irish whiskey again. Malt is relatively simple to make because you only use malt. But to make pot still, you need five grains - malt, green barley, wheat, oats and rye in different proportions. Technically speaking, you have to have a slightly different process to make pot still. You need what’s called a mashing vessel to help break down the starches in the unmalted grains. We use nano-technology, which exposes the spirit to six times more copper than normal. Copper is the catalyst that really makes the spirit good, as it removes some of the volatile sulfur compounds, so nano-technology is really important because it gives the spirit more exposure to copper. Then we have a condenser that condenses the spirit into liquid. We use copper tubes, again, to give the spirit more exposure to copper. At the end of all of that, we have a sub-cooler which means we take the spirit off at ten degrees centigrade, retaining a greater essence of flavours because you’re taking the spirit off at a cooler temperature. Most other distilleries will take the spirit off at 25 degrees centigrade, so we are very unique in that way. We have technology that most other distilleries don’t have, and I suppose the theme of the distillery is marrying modern technology with old craft. 

What’s your take on the Scotch market? 

Scotch whisky is kind of flat-lining. Blends, which is the biggest part of Scotch Whisky is declining, and malt is increasing slowly. But Irish Whiskey is growing at 15 - 20% a year. The buzz around Irish whiskey now is huge - everybody is interested in Irish whiskey. 

What is your take on sustainability? How do you focus on sustainability while creating your spirits?

We’ve got a pretty modern distillery, so we try and recover as much heat as we can because, obviously, in distilling, you use a lot of heat. Every ingredient we source is 100% natural and 100% local, with every drop of water coming from the Boyne Valley well. We recycle all our input water and recover as much energy as we can. We are looking at heat pump technology combined with PV electricity generation which uses renewable energy to take our hot water and transform it into steam. 

Ireland has a sustainability programme called Origin Green. We are proud to be a gold member since 2022, which shows that we, as a distillery, are recognised for excelling in our sustainability performance. My daughter is also a bit of an eco-warrior and plants trees every year. 

Boan Distillers have won multiple awards; voted the world’s best new make and new spirit at the world whiskey awards 2021. Where do you see the company in the next five years?

We expect to be madly successful. We’re very confident, and I’ll tell you why. We have a brand called the Whistler which is a malt whiskey, but Boann is a pot still and is absolutely premium. We’ve just received the design for our first bottle, and I have to say it’s absolutely fantastic. We distilled our first spirit here and filled our first cask on 21st December 2019, and casked our first whiskey on 21st December just gone (2022). We had a party in the distillery where we launched our first Boann Single Irish Pot Still Whiskey! And it really is fantastic! We received 429 bottles from the cask. There were 120 people here for the party, so everyone received a bottle. And we sold off another 100 bottles by lottery. 

What is your favourite way to enjoy whiskey? 

My favourite time to drink whiskey is in the winter. I live in an old house, and we have a big log fire every evening. So I can sit beside the fire with a glass of whiskey and have a conversation with myself. Sometimes I even have a row with myself. It’s a meditative thing. You don’t need anybody else. You can sip your whiskey, have a conversation with yourself, and decide what you want to talk about. Sometimes you may want to have a row or disagree with yourself, but that’s OK. 

And then, in the summer, we sit outside as much as we can, which is an equally good place for whiskey. In the summertime, I will drink a lighter whiskey than in the wintertime. So in the wintertime, I will have a heavier-style whiskey, and in the summertime, a lighter-styled whiskey.  There’s a whiskey for every occasion!

What was the first whiskey you have ever tried?

The first whiskey I ever drank was probably Paddy whiskey. The first time I had a proper whiskey was when I was training as an accountant. The first time I was on the job, I sat beside the fire with a glass of whiskey and read the syllabus for the accountancy exams. When I was a young fella, I was a bit mad and played music with a band. We weren’t very good; we used to sing in pubs, and for every pint my bandmates drank, I’d have a small glass of whiskey. 

Do you have many whiskies in your personal collection?

I don’t really collect whiskey. I drink it. 

What do you see in store for the Irish whiskey industry in the years ahead?

Irish whiskey looks like it’s doing really well and is doing really well. Pot still is the most talked about subcategory of the Irish Whiskey industry. And because Boann is one of the only distilleries producing pot still, I really think we’re going to see huge success over the next few years. 

Could you tell us more about how you changed the legislation on single pot still whiskey? 

The parameters for Irish pot still whiskey are set down by a technical file because Irish whiskey has got geographical indications (GI), which is a European legislation. The technical file was produced before a new wave of Irish distilleries came along and states that for pot still, you can only use a minimum of 30% malt, a minimum of 30% green barely and a maximum of 5% other cereals like oats, wheat and rye. 

We felt that this wasn’t at all representative of what true Irish whiskey was because all of the old mash bills belong to old distilleries that are now gone. And all were way outside the specifications of that technical file. So we formed an association with a famous researcher and whiskey historian, Fionnán O’Connor, and with him, we researched twelve old mash bills from lost distilleries that have long gone since the 1800s. We did an association with the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, which is the International University for distilling, and the Technical University in Dublin and held a seminar and a sensory tasting analysis in Belfast and Dublin. The general consensus was that presently, Irish pot still whiskey does not represent what Irish whiskey was when Irish Whiskey dominated the world whiskey market. So the Irish Whiskey Association, as a consequence, has recommended that the Irish Government change the technical file, which they are doing at the moment, and we are expecting it to be changed very soon. 

So because of the research programme we did here at our distillery, we managed to change European legislation. Not bad for a little distillery here in the Boyne valley!

What is the best thing about owning your own distillery? What’s your favourite thing about it? 

The best thing, without a doubt, is the personal satisfaction of putting together a distillery and making the best spirit in the world! And on top of that, the prospect of building a really internationally famous pot still brand. This is what makes what I do so interesting. The focus is on the future, not on the past or even the present. Everything I do is about building Boann to be an international premium pot still success. And, of course, the bonus is that the whole family, including my wonderful wife, is with me. We have a shared vision and a shared dream. And strangely enough, we all get on really well!

I’m 76 and I’m still working quite hard, but I’m not really doing this for myself. I’m doing it for the whole thing of making what I started a success, but also for the family. And with the hope that they will carry on the family business.