It has been several weeks since our last update, so much has changed at the Distillery and in the world around us. As we work positively towards realising our ambitions in this new world we thought to update you with our exciting news!
As well as making hand sanitiser, these last three weeks have seen us firing up our beautiful 450 litre still for the first time, as we finally started making our first spirit, George Bishop London Dry Gin. It has been a fantastic experience and she works so well.
So far, this recipe had only been made on our much smaller development still, yet it was polished and delicious. We take our time in making our spirit, so it will now sit and condition for a few weeks before the complexity and smoothness is just right, but it already smells and tastes wonderful. We can’t wait to share it with you, but first we have more news.
We’ve got the inside of our Distillery all mapped out and stocked up with thousands of bottles of varying sizes and designs, ready to start retailing our products. So much so that we have doubled the original capacity of our bottle storage, and only half of it can you see in this picture. We’ve installed all the necessary equipment for our production line, including a very fun bottling machine which can fill the different size and shaped bottles we have.
When the Covid-19 crisis started in March we were excitedly planning a ‘physical’ launch with a series of events hosted at the Distillery. We decided to pause and to see what direction we could best move in, and now armed with the information that we all face a new world, we have decided to adapt as positively as we can. Although we are sure we will host you all at the Distillery one day soon, in the mean time we plan to open the Distillery “virtually”.
What will a virtual launch look like? Well we have thought of many ways we can bring you ‘in’ to the Distillery, from virtual tours, walkthroughs, to close-up action of our production line, cocktail classes, tastings, and much more. We will naturally review this regularly as our goal has always been to welcome people through our doors, and we will make sure we do that as soon as we are able.
What we must make sure we do is to give our two first products, George Bishop Gin and our partnership gin with Plantlife, Ranscombe Wild, the best release that we can. We’re really proud of the spirits we’ve created with Master Distiller and Distilling Consultant Gerard Evans, so lets get the spirits out there for you all to enjoy. We’ll have some exciting promotions and competitions. For all those who won prizes in our build up, we will make sure you have plenty of time to redeem them. All the Distillery team is super excited, after all, There Is Pride In Our Spirit.
We are Hiring! Want to work in a Distillery and hungry for a challenge? We are looking for a Marketing and Distillery assistant to join our fun and dynamic team. To find out more, click on ‘We’re Hiring’.
Hand Sanitiser Promotion: We are here to support businesses as you plan to re-open, we are offering 10% off our Hand Sanitiser range. Use the code HSTEN at the checkout. Larger discounts are available for bulk orders, please contact us.
You can purchase hand sanitiser directly through our website, simply click on Hand Sanitiser
Whats New: The branding for our George Bishop London Dry Gin is complete and with our printers. Ranscombe Wild is also nearly complete, with an interesting surprise featured on the bottle so watch this space to find out more!
Last week we held a Zoom live tasting event with Plantlife staff from all around the country enjoying our Ranscombe Wild Small Batch Gin and giving us their feedback. It was great fun and we are delighted to report that together with the valuable feedback from our members we have agreed a final recipe. This gin is all together very different from our George Bishop, its zesty and herbaceous, a delicious taste of the wild.
We are looking to scale this recipe up as we speak and go into production any day. We believe it will be a fabulous gin, the perfect summers drink!