Porterhouse, the craft brew pub chain co-founded by barrister Oliver Hughes, is rumoured to be working on a hush-hush mini gin distillery to be located within the four walls of celebrity hotspot Lillie's Bordello.

Gin is supposed to make you cry, but whiskey has Hughes laughing all the way to the bank.

The Porterhouse’s Dingle Distillery in Kerry has also raised €3 million by flogging 500 cases of bonded whiskey to investors – the distillery’s Founding Fathers – at €6,000 a pop.

The company is also entering the market with a series of gin retail packs known as Cliabhán.

Customers will get a pack of four gins, three of which have been aged on bourbon, port and sherry casks, and are encouraged to mix them. All in good spirits, of course . . .