Meet the mermaids of Valentia Island Vermouth
Anna and Orla Snook O'Carroll // All images courtesy of Valentia Island Vermouth/Ruthless Imagery
Micro-breweries and craft distilleries are all the rage in Ireland, but an award-winning vermouth is adding to the country’s distinctive cocktail of producers. Created by Anna and Orla Snook O'Carroll, Valentia Island Vermouth Ór—meaning gold in Irish—reflects its Wild Atlantic Way origins. Julie-Ann Sherlock chatted with the enterprising pair to find out more.
Created with over 20 botanicals (including local gorse), handcrafted caramel, and a Spanish Verdejo wine, the brainchild of married couple Anna and Orla Snook O'Carroll is Ireland’s first commercial vermouth.
Having met at art school in busy Bristol, moving to a small island was not much of a culture shock for the couple who felt welcomed immediately. Orla explains that even though they loved the vibrancy and diversity of Bristol, they wanted to move somewhere that was “environmentally and geographically in stark contrast, but in some ways held similar values.” Kerry’s Valentia Island ticked all these boxes with its West Coast vibe, and the idea for the vermouth was born with “the Island as the story’s main character,” Orla explained.
Valentia Island Vermouth Ór, Ireland's first commercial vermouth
While working in catering, Anna had attended a vermouth tasting and had fallen in love with the aperitif. Upon seeing the gorse and herbs available in their new island home, the pair started to experiment. Marrying local ingredients and more exotic spices and combining them with Anna's homemade caramel led to the creation of Ór.
While perfecting the flavour profile, their kitchen table “looked like a mad scientist's house with jam jars everywhere full of different plants and tinctures” says Orla. But it paid off as they recently won bronze at the International Wine and Spirits Awards.
It works perfectly as a sipping vermouth or as a long drink using tonic, creating a “V&T instead of a G&T,” Orla quips. Or added to some bubbly instead of Aperol, it makes a delicious spritz. It also works beautifully in classic cocktails like a Manhattan or Martini, is “super versatile” and has come a long way from being “that bottle at the back of your parents’ drinks cabinet.”
Last year, they teamed up with Stillgarden Distillery to create the first-ever Irish Negroni. “They had the first Irish amaro [O'Maro], and we had the first Irish vermouth—so it made sense that we would create a ready-to-drink Negroni,” Orla explained. The resulting cherry and spice profiles are perfect for autumn and Christmas. “Stillgarden took us under their wing and are amazing to work with.”
While they’ve enjoyed bringing their passion project to life, they encountered many “what the hell are we doing?” moments, says Anna. “It has its ups and downs. Going from using micro-droplets of tinctures and having to scale up to doing litres and litres of it” was one major challenge, and the homemade caramel added another. “We make every drop of caramel that goes into the vermouth,” so scaling up its production was difficult.
“When we get over a hurdle, we are like ‘whooo!’ and are elated—then there is the next challenge waiting for us, often later that day,” laughs Anna.
Valentia Island Vermouth works perfectly as a sipping vermouth or as a long drink using tonic, ice and a slice
“We pour our hearts into every single drop of vermouth that we make,” say Orla and Anna
The duo’s artistic background is evident in the Valentia Island Vermouth bottle itself. Its hand-drawn design by Dublin illustrator Steve Doogan features the island’s lighthouse (where Orla and Anna were married), the botanicals used and two mermaids, tails entwined, representing them.
While pride in their product is clearly evident, like Valentia’s iconic lighthouse, they wish to be a “beacon of hope”. Two girls marrying on a remote Irish island and receiving an open-armed welcome is a vital part of their story, allowing members of the LGBTQ+ community to see it’s possible to thrive being who you are.
As August 2022 began, they were “over the moon to wake up to the news this morning that we have been awarded a Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Award. We pour so much love and hard work into every bottle, it is beautiful to see what people think of it.”
Anna and Orla’s next project involves another abundant local ingredient—seaweed—and features all local botanicals. With plans to tackle the American and UK markets, open a visitor experience and further collabs up their sleeves, exciting times are on the horizon at Valentia Island Vermouth.