What did you do before working with Tumbledown Distillery? I ran a successful Facilities Management Company. I started it in 1988, with just myself and one employee, and grew it into one of the largest privately owned Manx employers on the island, with 135 staff when I retired from the business. How did you get involved with the spirits industry? I met Taff Davies, the distiller, when I lived and worked on the Falklands. My job was with the local government, helping new businesses to start up, and Taff was looking for investment at that time from the Government. They turned him down, but I had seen the potential of his business, and once I had completed my tenure with the government, I paid him a visit. Long story short, I invested personally into the distillery, along with another friend of mine and Taff’s, Saul Pitaluga. Taff became a very good friend and obviously still is.
What is the inspiration behind Tumbledown Distillery and your gin? The inspiration for the spirits came from Taff, he started out making whisky, which he shared with friends, and it was a big hit. Friends then told him it was so good, he should be selling it, and that was it. It became a passion, and still is. The distillery has had investment, and stills have been improved, but it is still a micro-distillery, hand crafting rare, premium gin, along with whisky, which is still maturing. Simply put, it is a passion, shared by the three friends. What is the meaning and story behind the Tumbledown Distillery name? Our brand name comes from Mount Tumbledown on the Falkland Islands, which is where the water is drawn from to start the process of distilling. Mount Tumbledown is well known due to the conflict in 1982, as the place where British forces set up camp and successfully took control of the Falklands from the Argentinians who surrendered.
Can you tell us more about your distillery and your stills? The distillery is based in Stanley, on the Falkland Islands, and is a simple set up in Taff’s back garden! It started off as a shed, but was then replaced with a purpose built cabin. We have two stills, the first is a 50 gallon Cap Logic and is for the stripping part of distillation using a thumper. The second still is a 26 gallon still and is both a reflux and vapour still. It is Chinese made and good quality - Taff already knew that Chinese distillation was second to none as that is where he started distilling. Can you tell us more about your distillation process and botanicals? The gin is a London Dry style of gin and includes unique botanicals, with scurvy grass, coriander seeds, orange peel, orris root, and other ingredients which make up our unique formulation. We make our own alcohol, starting with pure spring water. With us, hand crafted really means hand crafted. Even our scurvy grass is hand foraged.
What is your ambition for Tumbledown Distillery in the years to come?
Our main ambition is to continue to provide a hand crafted, premium product, and to remain loyal to the art of micro-distilling. Desert Island Gins: Which 3 gins would you take with you and why?
What's next for you and Tumbledown Distillery - any exciting plans? We hope to see the success of our newly opened office in the Isle of Man, which allows us to make our hand crafted gin available in the UK. We also have plans to do a special edition gin around the story of Ernest Shackleton's Expedition of 1914 to the Antarctic, with the Endurance Ship, and the subsequent finding of the wreck by Mensun Bound in 2022. You Might Also Like...
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