Many of you may know Mac Ivors Cider but did you know it’s our 10 year Birthday this year!! All those years ago when Greg started experimenting with apple varieties to make the best cider he possibly could. Now he’s selling those fantastic ciders nationwide and internationally too.

Here at Mac Ivors Cider we have had a fantastic busy summer, getting back into the swing of things finally! We’ve gone from beer festivals to BBQ festivals, from rain to record temperatures, and back. And we have been super busy behind the scenes too.

 

Greg is a fifth generation apple grower and has been in the family business of growing and processing for many years now. From the 2009 apple harvest, Greg began to experiment with crafting different styles of cider. Managing over 100 acres of premium Armagh orchards, he wanted to craft a refreshing cider that showed off those wonderful apples that are grown here in the Orchard County. A real Irish cider that tastes of delicious apples! So Mac Ivors Cider was born….

The Mac Ivors name itself came from Greg’s Granny Annie née Mac Ivor. When her husband died young, she raised nine children and ran the family farm. She had a true passion for apple growing which she passed on to her son Sam and in turn her grandson Greg.

 

So the first bottles were produced and sold to a few local stockists- check out that retro label!! Pedro our fox was front and centre – another nod to a family member, Greg’s late uncle Peadar. A great character who was a bit of an alchemist himself. Full of mischief, Peadar knew there was greatness in Armagh apples, not just in taste but in stories and song.

 

 

Then in 2012 the official launch of Mac Ivors Cider took place. Where else, only the RDS Craft Beer and Cider Festival!! Mac Ivors had secured nationwide distribution and people could finally begin to taste our delicious ciders. The two ciders released are still part of our core range – Traditional Dry Cider and Medium Sweet.

 

 

A lot has happened in those ten years. Many, MANY more craft beer festivals, releasing limited editions, anyone remember The BEAST!!! A hopped cider, a Perry, a collab with our great mates at White Hag Brewery. And, of course, the release of our third cider in the core range – Plum & Ginger Cider, an absolute favourite of festival goers throughout the years. From key kegs to steel kegs, from black bottle caps to red, to gold! And most exciting is the fact that more and more stockists are coming on board all the time, amazing. So you can get your favourite Mac Ivors Cider in your local off licence or pub a lot easier than back in 2012!

 

Here in Armagh, Greg also planted 10 more acres of cider apple orchards, now producing bumper crops of delicious Michelin and Dabinett apples. We have Sarah on the road, in the cider-mobile spreading the word of Mac Ivors Cider to anyone who will listen!! We’ve gained international distribution. We survived a global pandemic!! And we thought what better way to celebrate everything Mac Ivors Cider has achieved than giving the bottles a gorgeous fresh fit.

Introducing our brand new bottles labels, fresh off the press 😉

You’ll recognise the Red for Dry Cider, the Blue for Medium and the purple for the Plum & Ginger but with a bit more of a POP! Check out our lovely apple tree design on the bottles, showing off those wonderful apples we grow here in Armagh. The apple trees that gave Greg the inspiration to start on this cider journey over ten years ago!!!