International Success for Hughes Craft Distillery

October 16, 2015

The Vice Chairman of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council’s Development Committee, Alderman Jim Dillon would like to acknowledge and commend Hughes Craft Distillery, Lisburn, on being awarded with a silver medal for their pure RubyBlue Irish Potato Vodka at the prestigious New York World Wine and Spirits competition.

Attending the international competition for the first time, Northern Ireland’s first potato distilled vodka, RubyBlue, was launched by the Lisburn based Distillery in May 2015.

In addition to the Irish Potato Vodka, the company also produces a range of award winning ultra-smooth RubyBlue berry liqueurs, which come in four natural fruit flavours; Wild Cranberry, Wild Blueberry, Wild Blackcurrant and Chilli Pepper, and is currently exporting to Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Australia.

Alderman Jim Dillon praised Hughes Craft Distillery on their success at the New York World Wine and Spirits competition. He said, “It gives me great pleasure to congratulate husband and wife team, Stuart and Barbara Hughes on bringing home a silver medal, on their first attempt, for their handcrafted RubyBlue Irish Potato Vodka.

“With only having launched the spirit in May, this award is a tremendous achievement and a well-deserved boost in what will hopefully help build international relations and sales, which has been a significant focus for the business since the launch.

“Any business aspiring to succeed across the globe will know that it is extremely difficult to enter new markets, particularly the US, so this award will not only help raise the profile of Hughes Craft Distillery and their product portfolio but develop essential distribution links in what is a key market.

“I am very proud to have Hughes Craft Distillery in the City of Lisburn and sincerely wish Stuart and Barbara every success. I have no doubt the company will continue to grow and gain greater recognition throughout the world,” concluded Alderman Dillon.

The New York World Wine and Spirits competition hinges on the quality, expertise and probity of the judging panel. They have a wide variety of experiences and backgrounds that facilitates a true, unbiased quality of judging of all brands entered.