With labels designed by a local tattoo artist and named after the Manx word for ‘bloody windy’, Hoolie was created by former journalist Rick Dacey and Ian Warborn-Jones, a winemaker with experience working in Portugal’s Valle Pradinhos vineyards.
Warborn-Jones said: “It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, but we certainly would have had a harder job trying to get off the ground in the UK. Being in the Isle of Man has meant our ideas have quickly become a reality. We’ve had great government support as a business to get going, and there’s a real collaborative community here that helps get new businesses off the ground.”
The pair set up the Outlier Distilling Company after transforming an old milking barn, in the middle of a working farm, into a distillery as they do everything in the process by hand.
Dacey added: “We knew expansion into the UK market would be essential, and Harrods stocking our product is a stamp of quality that we are absolutely thrilled to receive.”
Hoolie rum is available at Harrods for an abv of 41% for £35.
