Price: £45

I am not a gin drinker, in fact, to be honest, I don't really like gin that much. I like visiting distilleries and as I had some time to spare while in Ireland, I decided to visit the Boatyard Distillery. Boatyard do also make vodka and will be launching a rum later in the year, but their tour is focussed on gin.

Boatyard is a new distillery on the shores of Logh Erne in County Fermanagh. The distillery is in a new building which suffers from a common problem of new buildings; it is hard floors, high ceiling and no noise dampening which means it is incredibly loud and echoing.

I arrived for the tour slightly early (as I always try to do) and ended up chatting with the tour guide for a while, with a gin and tonic to drink, before the other six people on the tour arrived (as one party). The tour starts with a detailed introduction to the origins of the distillery. We learned about the background of the founder as well as a bit on the history of gin.

The reason for this is one of the gins they make, The Boatyard Old Tom is of an uncommon style. While this ection of the tour takes place, you get to sample a cocktail, as they explain the mix of herbs in the normal standard gin. You then try the standard and Old Tom gins; I preferred the Old Tom which is a pale brown in colour.

I had a little trouble with this part of the tour as I have a bad back and find that sitting on stools somewhat painful as my back is unsupported and this part takes place at tables surrounded by stols so ended up standing the whole time (about 30-40 minutes).

Next we moved into the stillroom where the construction and use of the still was described. We saw the bottling room before moving back to the main room of the distillery where we started.

At this time you get to apply the front label and collar to your bottle of gin (included in the price of the tour). There was then a thirs cocktail to try which some enjoyed, but which I really didn't like, although when I heard it contained rhubard I didn't expect to.

Once you've done this you take a shoert walk down to the "warehouse" where you hear about their pkans for expansion. When you leave the warehouse, you get to sample a chilled Vodka which was very good. They describe the vodka as a sipping vdka, and I agree. It is very smooth and easy to drink.

The tour was, according to the website, meant to take 90 minutes, but we were there for two hours. The tour was comprehensive and very enjoyable; if oyu like gin this would be a good tour to attend; if you don't like gin, like me, but are interested in distilling then it is still actually quite a good tour.