The new folks behind Sipsmith Distillery in London have launched their first product. A true London gin that seems to win bartenders’ hearts right away.
A copper still from Germany, two enthusiastic young gentlemen with a passion for alcoholic spirits, a garage formerly belonging to deceased whisky expert Michael Jackson, and the first distillery licence to be granted within London city limits in generations: The Sipsmith Distillery is the stuff of legends.
Two years ago, Stamford Galsworthy and Fairfax Hall, the two founders of Sipsmith, packed in their well-paid jobs in the spirits industry to found their own distillery. Faced with the high real estate prices in London, they started searching for a small property that would nonetheless be large enough to accommodate the still – a hand-made piece by Bavarian Christian Carl, given the nickname ‘Prudence’.
They eventually found a property in the heart of west London, more precisely, the garage belonging to the house of Michael Jackson, the whisky expert who had recently passed away.
Since June 2009 they have been distilling one vodka and one gin in small batches of 200 to 300 bottles per week – and everything is done meticulously by hand. The vodka is produced using English barley and it also forms the basis of the gin, which is re-distilled with ten different botanicals – Macedonian juniper, Bulgarian coriander seeds and Seville orange peel to name just a few ingredients. Both products are blended to drinking strength using water from Lydwell Spring, one of the sources of the River Thames. This closes the circle on the story that defines Sipsmith Gin as a true London dry gin.
Ratings
"A sweeping flock of aromatic birds soars over a fresh Alpine meadow: Slices of lemon dance pirouettes, enveloped in a sweet fog, a bashful little flower
blossoms, and then the juniper appears in all its majesty. Beautiful."
Oliver Ebert (Beckett‘s Kopf, Berlin)
"Independent dry gin from a garage in London. Unpretentious juniper without any exotic excuses. Drunk straight it is already exceptional."
Gonçalo de Sousa Monteiro (Admirals Bar, Berlin)
Origin: Great Britain
Producer: Sipsmith Independent Spirits
Distribution: no distribution in Germany
Price: approx. 28 euros (0.7l)
Alcoholic strength: 41,6% Vol.
Tanja Bempreiksz
