What did you do before creating Derbyshire Distillery?
Prior to opening the distillery I was a brewer for 10 years producing craft real ales. What made you decide to create your distillery and gins? After so long being a brewer I fancied a change. I love cooking and creating recipes with both food and beers so wanted to try making a gin. After several months working on a 3 litre alembic still I decided I wanted to commercially launch a gin and distillery Can you tell us more about the distillery and your stills? Currently we have 2 x 100 litre G-Stills but this is not keeping up with demand, so just 1 year in we are expanding again. We have built a new purpose built site and will install a 100 litre G-Still plus a new 400 litre Kothe still. Can you tell us more about the botanicals you use? For the Chesterfield Range we work with many of the more common botanicals but for the Derbyshire Range I have taken inspiration from the Peak District. The Master Blend is a blend of both the Lathkil Dry Gin which takes inspiration from the White Peak - it is light and floral and includes Rosehip, Lavender, Cornflower and Marigold - and the Bleaklow Dry Gin which is inspired by the moorlands of the Dark Peak and its botanicals include Heather, Gorse, Bilberry and Blackberry. What have been the biggest challenges and achievements so far? Keeping up with demand! I put a lot of effort and testing into the Chesterfield Dry Gin, not only to be a fantastic London Dry gin but also the base for a range of flavoured gins, so its wonderful to see them doing so well and being enjoyed. Then to come Runner-Up in The Gin Guide Awards has really made our first year very special. How would you describe your gin in 3 words? Smooth, Clean, Traditional What's your favourite way to drink your gin? Gin & Tonic or Southside What gins would you always have on your gin shelf (other than your own of course!) I’m currently enjoying Buxton Gin and my favourites include Adnams Copper House Gin, Malfy Gin, and Gin Mare, What's next for Derbyshire Distillery - any exciting plans? So next we will be getting our new distillery up and running, and then we will be working on the gin experience and visitor centre. With the new capacity I’m looking at launching a new single batch gin that will be exclusive to our shop. Vodka and Rum are planned, plus I have an exciting collaboration coming up in Italy. Also Read...
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