The well known Scottish poet and novelist, Robert Louis Stevenson, once wrote that “Wine is bottled poetry”. One might interpret this as being a reference to the complex interplay between environment, and imagination – poetry, the manifestation of the fertile ground of the human imagination; and wine, possessing the character of its terroir.
Bhagyalakshmi Barrett and her husband Robert Barrett have succeeded beautifully in harnessing the poetry of a different popular ferment – gin – through the creative reimagining and mingling of the flavours derived from their respective cultures; the result is Maharani Gin, distilled at the couple’s own Rebel City Distillery in Cork, the first distillery to be opened in Ireland in half a century.
Bhagyalakshmi hails from Kollam district in the southern state of Kerala, a place world renown for its unique spices. It was Bhagyalakshmi’s idea to try a new formula to flavour the gin, with pomelo fruit, cassia, and nutmeg mace; a winning combination by all accounts.Bhagyalakshmi started her career as an IT professional in Chennai, before moving to Madrid. She moved to Ireland in 2013 to pursue a Masters in Business Administration. In 2015, she began working for Dell as an IT programme manager. She and Robert met on a blind date; it was not long before they realized they wanted to share their lives with one another, and they tied the knot in August 2017, in Kerala.
Robert completed his postgraduate degree in Brewing and Distilling in Scotland, before working for a number of distilleries in Ireland and abroad. It had been a long held dream to open his own distillery, and with the help of his father Brendan Barret, this dream was realized in 2020.Bhagyalakshmi and Robert wished for the first product from the distillery to be a fusion of two cultures, a reflection of their own cross-cultural union. An intense longing for the familiar aromas and tastes of home is perhaps the most universal immigrant experience, and given the great variety of flavours unique to Kerala, Bhagyalakshmi saw an opportunity to create a unique and vibrant fusion to share with people in Ireland and beyond, while supporting efforts to create more sustainable agricultural practices in Kerala. Raw materials used in Maharani are sourced in the hilly region of Wayanad, an agrobiodiversity hotspot, known for Ayurvedic medicine; Bhagyalakshmi, passionate about the social and ecenomic empowerment of women, wanted to create Maharani as a symbol of the power of women, and a project in support of women’s autonomy.
In the initial stages, with just three staff, including Bhagyalakshmi and Robert, Rebel City Distillery produced 10,000 bottles of Maharani. The product gained popularity quickly, achieving ‘Gold’ recognition from The Spirits Business within just five months, setting record. Popular food reviewers and bloggers gave a stunning score of 91 out of 100 for Maharani, which is priced now at €49 per bottle; a price the couple hope can be brought down post-pandemic, along with production costs.
Today apart from Ireland, Maharani Irish Gin is also available in stores in Denmark and Singapore. Also it is sold across Europe and US in hands with various online stores.An overwhelming response from the public has prompted Bhagyalakshmi and Robert to explore the opportunities for a follow up to Maharani, the first among them, a rum made with jaggery, an unrefined sugar, imported from Kerala.Bhagyalaksmi notes the culture around alcohol in Ireland is very different from that of Kerala, and India, in general. She has perceived that, in Ireland, “people enjoy every sip they take, savouring the smell, taste, everything is important for them”.For that reason, the flavour profiles created at Rebel City Distillery are designed to entice – to draw one into an experience that is exotic yet familiar, in the spirit of bottling alchemy, to rival wine’s poetry.