Since our last update several weeks ago, there has been a hurricane of activity here at the Distillery and now feels like the right time to pause and reflect on everything we have managed to accomplish so far.

As July rolled around and after much anticipation, we officially opened to the public with the launch of our brand new website and flagship spirit – George Bishop London Dry Gin. The initial support was truly staggering and in an effort to keep up with the explosion of orders, we even had to temporarily repurpose our experience room as a fully fledged packing line.

Shortly thereafter, we opened up bookings for our Distillery Tours which commence from Friday 28th August. We’re delighted to say that these have proven extremely popular and many slots have already been completely filled up. We’ve just about finished adding the final touches to our experience room and can’t wait to host you here for what we think will be an incredibly entertaining, sensory experience with the addition of some great audio visual content. Our tours can be booked in store or online via our Tours page.

Last week we launched our second spirit, Ranscombe Wild Small Batch Gin, which is a celebration of the local landscape and Plantlife. Many of the botanicals we use in this contemporary gin, such as wild marjoram, corn mint and poppy seeds, are foraged locally from Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve. Much more than just a footnote to the flavour, these unique ingredients make up much of the core profile of Ranscombe Wild, making for an incredibly interesting, herbaceous and zesty take on a traditional London Dry style. We’ve also pledged to donate £1.00 from every bottle sale to our charity partner Plantlife, of whom Ranscombe Farm is their flagship reserve. Plantlife are Europes largest wild plant conservation charity and their patron is HRH The Prince of Wales.

Since launching a little over a month ago, the team has doubled in size with Otis now on board to assist us with our marketing efforts and Lily who has taken ownership of our front of house responsibilities. We’ve also had a great deal of interest from the press, with various articles such as this from Kent Online being published, and culminating in Darren giving a short interview live on air with BBC Radio Kent.

We can’t wait to see what the coming months bring and can’t thank you all enough for being a part of the journey. We’ll see you very soon!

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!

What’s New at The Market Buildings

Our still is now installed. Many weeks have been spent connecting utilities to it, including water, electricity and drainage, and we have taken great care to ensure that all pipework in and around the still looks as beautiful as she does. Our lights have been installed throughout and it was a great day to switch these on for the first time, including a couple of funky spotlights to add accent colours to certain areas. We’ve also added two customer toilets and an experience room, that we are very proud of. In the coming weeks we plan to install a simple bar and shop front as well as seating.

George Bishop London Dry Gin

At our Behind the Scenes events, many Founding Members visited us and gave us their feedback on our first gin: George Bishop. 

We held recipe testing in a number of different ways, mixing things up to make sure we got results that gave us a clear winning recipe.

Some Members will have tasted a few varieties of the recipe using a different blend of botanicals each time, to see which flavour profiles were most popular. Other members were given the same recipe to taste but at different strengths, again to test how our chosen mix of 15 exotic botanicals was received at different ABVs. After some industry testing too, we arrived at a clear winner, a clear chosen recipe and at its most popular strength. With our still complete we are now very close to distilling our first run of the recipe, which will mark a significant moment as the first spirit to be distilled at the new Maidstone Distillery.  This special batch will form part of a limited edition “1st batch” release available to reserve soon on our website and also included as part of the Founding Member offer.

We are so delighted that our bottle design and labels have been tested and finalised and we are thrilled with their final look. We must give thanks to our design team at Zest the Agency, who have created something very unique and eye catching, bold and brilliant enough for our flagship product and our homage to George Bishop. We will take delivery of these bottles in the coming weeks.

Our Experience Room

The last three months have seen us setting up a Distillery but also setting up our Experience Room. We have had three beautiful, bespoke mahogany benches made, one of which we have set at a height to enable wheelchair users to join our sessions. In this room we will hold events such as making your own gin in a guided session on your own mini copper still, as well as blending experiences and tours. The room is a real talking point as it takes in the best view of the still.

When will we open?

This is, quite understandably, the most common question we are asked at the moment! We are rapidly approaching the day when we can give an exact date, but expect it to be late April / early May. We thank you for your patience and encouragement on this journey so far, it has taken a great deal of will and technical expertise to realise our dream. 

Our ambition has turned out to be quite a grand one. Our vision has always been to install a Distillery that looks great, is in a fantastic location and creates delicious spirits. There was no rule book for what has been achieved and a Distillery in a town centre is certainly more unusual, but we hope will encourage more visitors to experience a working Distillery, and the excitement of getting close to the action.  Since late last year all of our theoretical plans have been put into reality and areas such as water pressure, racking and storage systems, ventilation, pumps, setting up the still etc. has all taken centre stage. It has taken longer than we thought and the team around us have been working so hard. We have also acquired our all important Distillers License and Warehouse License from the HMRC as well as our local authority permissions. We are on the Starting Blocks!

Next Steps

Our plans now are to start distilling in the coming weeks and then our first spirit will need to be conditioned and polished for a few weeks to reach crafted perfection. In the mean time we will be installing a simple bar and seating and preparing for our opening. We will also be continuing product development of our Ranscombe Wild gin and an exciting Liqueur! We are so looking forward to opening our doors. We feel we are on the final furlong now, it’s almost here. 

Founding Member Promotion 

Our Founding Members club will close to new Members at the end of March. We have enjoyed so much support for our new venture, and none more so than from our Founding Members. In April Sharon of Baden Art will put the final touches to the large bespoke piece of copper art than will hold all our Founding member names and we can’t wait to unveil this special piece. Its not too late to join, offer closes 31st March 2020. 

The Market Buildings

We were delighted to take possession of our new premises. Situated in the historic Market Buildings and right in the heart of Maidstone, it feels like the perfect location. Distilling has played a significant role in our county town as far back as 1785 when George Bishop built a large Distillery here and gained international acclaim for his Maidstone Gin. Then to Thomas Grant and sons who continued that legacy in 1853 and erected a new Distillery and warehouses in Maidstone, making gin, brandy and whisky. They again gained world wide acclaim for their spirits, in particular with their Grants Morella Cherry Brandy. Today we aim to add to this legacy, celebrating this amazing past, and our vibrant future together.    

There is Pride In Our Spirit.

Welcome to our ninth newsletter and to those who have joined us recently as well as our existing readership, thank you for your support. The Maidstone Distillery community continues to grow and we are delighted to be sharing this journey with you.

The Refurbishment Begins

Maidstone Distillery will at its heart be a working production line with our bespoke 450 litre copper still taking pride of place. Pictured here during its manufacture and designed by our Master Distiller, Gerard Evans, it will be capable of making a full range of spirits, including amongst others gin, vodka, liqueurs, brandy and whisky. As we begin the refurbishment we have thought carefully about positioning the still in the centre of the action, it will look truly spectacular when its installed. Our efforts initially will be to create a modern production line with storage vessels, a research and development area, and a small bottling and packaging line. Once our production facility is established we hope to open to the public so you can meet us and see our progress. At the earliest opportunity we aim to add an experience room where visitors will be able immerse themselves in our history and our modern craft; to complete tours and take part in experiences ranging from mixology to creating your own gin on miniature copper stills. Finally we aspire to open a special bar where you can relax in an inspiring setting, surrounded by and immersed in our world. As we began to expose the four tall brick arches at the rear of the Market buildings this week, we knew we were in the right place. We will be sure to keep you posted as the works progress.

Our Spirits

We are delighted to let you know that Gerard has finished working up the recipe of our London Dry gin. This signature gin had to be truly special and unique. It is the quintessence  of the gin category, where nothing can be added to the spirit after distillation apart from water. This gin is our interpretation of where George Bishop’s Maidstone Gin would be today. He was a pioneer and a gifted distiller. His gin gained international acclaim through its character and quality at a time when Gordons and Plymouth Gin were also created. His gin was the one that people were talking about. We look forward to testing this product very soon with a specially selected panel including some of our founding members. Expect some classic botanicals as well as some rather rare and unique ones. In the mean time we are working carefully toward the bottle and label design. It’s going to be truly special and a real talking point…Not long now.

On a separate note, our Ranscombe Wild gin is still in ongoing development, but its already creating a stir. This contemporary gin will be a true taste of the wild! Using wild foraged botanicals and celebrating a partnership with Plantlife, Europe’s largest wild plant conservation charity. We hope to reveal more in the coming weeks.

Our Founding Members

This totally unique piece of art was created by local artist Sharon of Baden Art. We love the way she works with copper and allows the natural oxidisation process to show off the vibrant hues of blues, oranges and reds. So inspired by her work that we incorporated the colours of oxidised copper into our branding. Copper plays such an integral role in a spirit still and in the distillation process, and what better way to celebrate that process than through this visual art. Sharon will add our logo to this piece and the names of our founding members. It will proudly hang on the Distillery wall, a monument to the journey of how this Distillery was set up.

Our Story and Social Media

It’s our best intention to keep you up to date and interested via our social media, so that you can follow the unique journey of our business start-up. This newsletter is the best way to stay informed and you can check out previous issues of our newsletter on our Website blog. 

Thanks once again for coming along on our journey. Please help spread the word of Maidstone Distillery and feel free to contact us at any time.

Maidstone Distillery

Pride In Our Spirit Since 1785.

Founding Members’ Club

The wait is almost over. In this issue we will tell you all about what it is to be a Founding Member, what benefits you receive from this special membership and how you can purchase this once only opportunity.

Welcome to our fifth newsletter and to those who have joined us recently as well as our existing readership, thank you for all your support and encouragement. The Maidstone Distillery community continues to grow. We have gone from a daydream, to a concept and are growing into a brand, shaped by you, a Distillery that Maidstone and Kent can be proud of. You are a huge part of this and we are delighted to have you by our side.

Our Brand

Our Brand and visual identity is moving forward and we can’t wait to show you our new look very soon. Zest have been brilliant, really getting to the heart of what Maidstone Distillery is; the History, the Quality of our products, the Customer Experience and our Community Identity. Every detail is being carefully considered from our logo to our colour scheme.

Our Premises

We are delighted to announce that since submitting our planning application for the Market Buildings we have been working closely with RAP Interiors to plan the Distillery layout. RAP are based in Maidstone, have a proven track record and are thoroughly professional. The computer software they use allows us to create a 3D plan of the Distillery and to place ourselves inside the building. The space is modest but with their expertise we will create a striking bar, a small shop area, an experience room and a functional Distillery, all with our 450 litre copper still taking the centre stage. RAP Interiors have been instrumental in getting our Distillery plans from our heads and onto paper. As the plans develop they will advise on all aspects from plumbing to electrics, from lighting to interior design. Together we are determined to create an exciting talking point for Maidstone.

Founding Members’ Club

Our Founding Members’ Club is all about giving you the opportunity to support and be a part of this Distillery. To make your mark literally on this positive and lasting legacy. The club will give members a special status in our hearts, and a chance to contribute to this exciting venture. There is Pride in our Spirit.

The Founding Members’ Club will:

• Give members the chance to be part of the Distillery and to contribute to something special;
• Will only be available to purchase before we open and for a limited period;
• Will raise important funds and awareness.

Founding Members will receive the following advantages and benefits by joining:

• Your name featured on a large bespoke copper artwork designed and created by Baden Art on permanent display in the Distillery for all to see, for years to come. 
• A 70cl bottle from the first runs of our signature London Dry Gin. This gin will be the flagship of the Distillery, drink it, enjoy it or hold onto it for future generations.
• A 10% discount on all goods and services for a year from launch (excluding bar purchases)
• A Personalised Membership pack sent to your door welcoming you as a Founding Member of Maidstone Distillery.
• For the first year, access to Founding Member only competitions and prize draws. These special event prizes will include things like joining us for foraging trips in association with our partners, joining our tasting panels as we select recipes, and bottling and labelling events.
• For the first year, early bird access to events, promotions and special offers before they go on sale to the general public. This could include new spirit releases, new experiences or other Distillery products. 

How can you purchase this:

• We have delayed the roll-out just until our branding is finalised and are working with Zest to create a unique and very special welcome pack for our Members that will be worth the wait;
• We will notify people via our mail shot in a special Founding Members launch;
• We aim to create several different ways to buy it, and also give you the option to buy it as a gift for someone.

Whether you are a drinks enthusiast, a believer in creating community spirit and identity or just love what we are trying to do, this Founding Members’ Club is a chance to be part of something special. 

Our Story and Social Media

It’s our best intention to keep you up to date and interested via our social media, so that you can follow the unique journey of our business start-up. This newsletter is the best way to stay informed and you can check out previous issues of our newsletter on our Website blog. 

Thanks once again for coming along on our journey. Please help spread the word of Maidstone Distillery and feel free to contact us at any time.

Maidstone Distillery

There’s Pride In Our Spirit.