local distillers in surrey
As the dry month of January fades, Catherine Whyte visits some independent distillers on the doorstep
With January already on the wane – and with it the nation’s annual attempt at prolonged sobriety – it’s time to get back to the bottle to report on the growing local trend towards craft distilleries.
Just before Christmas, I spent a few pleasurable hours touring the Sipsmith distillery up in Chiswick. A small, independent operation, Sipsmith specialises (mainly) in producing niche quantities of London Dry Gin in its bespoke copper stills. I, however, know it as the maker of my favourite tipple: Damson Vodka, a glorious beverage I first imbibed at one of Joel Cadbury’s marvellous establishments, Bel & The Dragon at Churt, near Farnham.
The history of gin in London is hugely engaging. It lists and leans through the uncontrolled chaos of the Gin Craze during the first half of the 18th Century – when home stills were almost as commonplace as alcohol poisoning – to the relative drought of the past 200 years, during which HMRC failed to issue a single new distiller’s licence in the capital. Until Sipsmith came along.
In fact, Sipsmith has rather blazed a trail for other craft distilleries, especially in Surrey. Beckett’s Gin and Silent Pool Distillers, for example, both commenced operations last year.
Based in Kingston, Beckett’s Gin uses juniper berries hand-picked on Box Hill. Its founder, Neil Beckett, launched a conservation project with the National Trust after discovering that the juniper, a native conifer found across the Surrey Hills, was in local decline.
Silent Pool, on the Albury Estate, near Guildford, uses spring water from the pool and fires its boiler – known as The Major – with locally sourced wood. The first product to hit the shelves, Albury Limited Reease Premium Gin, went on sale just before Christmas.
The distillery has also been working with Albury Organic Vineyard on an eau-de-vie de vin, Attila’s Bite, as well as with Birtley House, Bramley, to produce an apple brandy not yet available for sale.
sipsmith.com (info or to book tour); beckettsgin.co.uk; silentpooldistillers.com; alburyvineyard.com. Buy Albury Ltd Release Premium and Attila’s Bite at Kingfisher Farm Shop, Abinger Hammer
