A wise man once said that a house without gin is like a man without a soul. And this wise man uttered this immortal line a while ago, when the pretty much the only game in town was Gordons Dry. The market has developed significantly since then, with small batch distilleries popping up all over the place - a veritable multitude of local brands and flavours.
There are many small batch producers to chose from and here are some local ones:
Silverless Gin :
A small batch producer owed by Niels Van Jinn, and the gin is delicious - so much so that I have been buying in bulk to use as house gifts. It’s a side-line for Niels who’s day job is running his Marlborough based marketing agency.
Niels has family connections in Kenya, which is where the safari/sundowner inspiration comes from. The gin is distilled with the fruit of the baobab tree , pepper and orris root, as well as more traditional botanicals such as orange & lemon peel, elderflower and coriander (amongst others).
Every bottle has a hand-made beaded collar with a unique design made by the women of Ewasso Village in Kenya. If you smell the collar closely you can, apparently, still smell the woodsmoke.
Each bottle is individually numbered and tissue-wrapped – it looks amazing – hence why it makes such a great present.
A 70cl 42% ABV bottle costs £40, plus £5 delivery if you can’t collect from his agency in Marlborough. 10% off for a case of six.
Cotswolds Distillery
A kind friend introduced their dry gin as a birthday present, and it’s been a regular in the booze cupboard ever since. A lovely combination of botanicals makes it very quaffable. Dangerous on a Friday night after a long week in the office. It’s won taste awards too.
Photo of Cotswold Gin from the Cotswold Distillery website
They do a number of other gins including a seasonal special for Christmas, 3 varieties of wildflower gin and a hedgerow gin.
Buy a 70cl bottle 46% abv direct for £34.95 with free delivery. You can also get it in the Marlborough Majestic for £30. Buy direct if you can as the producer will see more value from it.
The distillery also does a range of pre-mixed cocktails and a range of single malt whiskys that I am very much looking forward to trying.
Silver Fox Gin
Silver Fox Gin, which is crafted using 8 botanicals in Luckington near Tetbury, is blended using 100% English Grain Spirit and distilled in an English Copper Pot.
Inspired by an awareness of rural England, Silver Fox Gin is intensely aromatic with savory notes of cedar, lifted with mellow citrus tones. It is distilled five times, which means that as much of the flavour as is possible of the botanicals is retained within the alcohol. The result is a deliciously pure tasting dry gin with a slightly creamy texture and a smooth, fine finish. It’s great on the rocks, and it also lends itself to a number of mixers, from cucumber to orange and even lavender and rose.
A 70cl 40% proof bottle costs £34.95. Delivery is £4.96
British Polo Gin
Born from the heart of the polo set and distilled in Bishops Norton, north of Gloucester, this proudly British, quadruple distilled, small batch gin uses 100% organic ingredients, as certified by The Soil Association, to create flavoursome yet smooth gins that won a number of Great Taste awards, including a 3* award in 2018 for their Botanical Gin.
Photo of Organic and Sloe Gins from the British Polo Gin website
A bottle of the botanical gin 70cl 42.7 abv bottle costs £39.99 They also do a number of flavoured gins including their Classic, Sloe (which won a 2* Great Taste award in 2021), and Rhubarb & Plum. An organic double spiced rum, completes the spirits stable, and all priced at just under the £40 mark.
Free delivery for orders of £40 or more. £2.50 if less.
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