Tiffany Kerruish, co-founder with her husband Paul of the Fynoderee Distillery, in Ramsey, tells us how she and her family will be spending Christmas Day.

The couple have been busy in the run up to the festive season with events and product launches at the Fyn Bar.

Many of the elements in the spirits they produce, the botanicals and other ingredients that give them their own individual character, are grown or foraged locally. Manx Alexander seed, for example, is in their new Glashtyn Manx Spiced Rum and local honey is in their BumBee Vodka.

Earlier in the year, Tiffany was out picking the gorse flowers which add a distinctive flavour to their spring edition gin and, more recently, she was picking sloes for their sellout Manx Sloe Gin.

Tiffany says: ’We will be working right up till Christmas Eve. and then, fortunately for us, things tend to have a really nice, peaceful lull and it’s all nice and calm so we can take a bit of a break until New Year when we have a bash planned at the Fyn Bar.’

She and Paul have two children, Amelie, aged eight, and Theo, six, so their Christmas Day will, inevitably, start early.

She says: ’We will probably be woken at about 5am. We have early presents in a stocking that can be opened at the crack of dawn but then main event presents are after breakfast when we’ve all had coffee and some nice calming moments.’

Tiffany lived in France for several years when she was younger and her Christmas Day breakfast tradition reflects this.

’I make oeuf en cocotte for Christmas morning. It’s quite a luxurious thing that you wouldn’t have all year round because it has things in it like fresh cream. And then we make soldiers and dip them in,’ she says.

The gourmet breakfast contrasts with a rather more relaxed approach when it comes to food for the rest of the day.

Tiffany says: ’We’ve thought that we might do quite a laid back, "all about the kids" Christmas Day.

’We’re seeing family at various stages over the Christmas period but Christmas Day itself, for the main meal, will just be us. So, rather than spending the day over the stove, cooking full on, we are probably just going to eat a load of cheese and canapes and drink a load of fizz - there’s also a bottle of Manx Sloe Gin with my name on it!

’The kids get all these presents that they need to have set up and unwrapped and batteries put in and I don’t want to be saying: ’Oh no I can’t do that because I’ve got to sort out the gammon or something".’

’So Christmas Day will be very much a housebound day and on Boxing Day we’ll go out and get some fresh air.

’We’re lucky that all our family live on the island, all in the north. My parents are at Port Lewaigue and Paul’s family are in Andreas. We’ve got it all planned out with different days with various different elements of the family.’

On New Year’s Eve at the Fyn Bar, Fire & Ice will be preparing fondue in their converted vintage fire truck and there will be cocktails and fizz at midnight.

The Tarroo Marroo ceilidh band are providing live music and Tiffany says: ’There will be a lot of the Manx tunes which I’m learning because I’m learning the flute now.’

And, whilst she’s not making any promises, she adds that there is just a chance that she may join in with the music.

She says: ’The more drinks I have, the braver I’ll get.’

l There are still some tickets available for New Year’s Eve at the Fyn Bar. Visit www.fynoderee.com.

Malting the Manx barley

Fynoderee’s latest project is a whiskey that will be uniquely Manx.

It is to be distilled from barley that was grown for them at Knockrushen Farm in Scarlett by Pentti Christian. Just before Christmas, Tiffany and Paul travelled down to Warminster Maltings, in Wiltshire, to watch the process of ’malting’ the crop.

The barley is a strain called Laureate, a spring barley known for its consistency and considered ideal for distilling purposes. It’s different to types of barley grown for brewing and was chosen after consultation with Warminster who have been impressed by the outcome.

Tiffany says: ’Warminster work with some of the biggest distilleries in the UK and they have said that it’s absolutely top notch stuff so we’re all ready to go.’

After it’s malted the barley will return to the island and the next process will be making a ’mash’.

Tiffany explains: ’We’re going to be collaborating with Bushy’s on this. They are going to be creating the mash for us, which is basically taking the grain and mixing it with water in their huge vats, the same as they do with barley that comes in for making beer.

’They’ll create what is called a "wort" and that will then be transported up to us at the Distillery in a big tanker.

’At that point there’s no alcohol in it - it’s just barley water essentially.

’We will then ferment it and go through the distillation process.’

For that they can count on the skill and experience of Rusty Figgins, Fynoderee’s master distiller who joined the business last year after relocating from the USA.

Rusty is the inventor of the Figgins Reciprocator distillation system, a pot-and-column hybrid still, which he will use in the production of the Manx whisky.

After their visit to the maltings Tiffany says: ’Our Manx origin preserved malt is of the highest quality and having been bespoke malted, we are so excited to have the best possible starting ingredient to our Manx Malt Whiskey programme.

Tiffany Kerruish with Robin Appel, managing director of the oldest maltings house in Great Britain.