Warner's Honeybee Gin, 70cl

Product Information

Within months of releasing their signature London Dry Gin, the Warner Edwards team was already raking in the awards. But for the Warner Edwards team, it was perfecting the unique flavours – like the effervescent Harrington Elderflower Gin in June's Gin of the Month box – that gave them the most joy. All distillers want to do all day every day is make new recipes,” Tom laughs. “We want to make cool liquids! We don’t have to worry about selling a certain number of cases like the big boys do. We can make a flavour without focusing on shareholders or overheads – it’s about exciting ourselves and our customers, and giving people the best drinking experiences possible.” To celebrate our Rhubarb Gin's famous flavour, we have enlisted the help of acclaimed lexicographer SUSIE DENT, to pen a 'Rhubarb Tongue Twister' that will give drinkers THE ULTIMATE taste experience through the preparation of the palate. As a farmer’s son, agricultural college seemed a natural enough next step after school. But little did Tom Warner know that the straightforward decision to attend agricultural college would take his life in a new and amazing direction.

Most of the ingredients are grown a short stomp from the distillery, because fresh botanicals taste...well, better. We harvest the likes of Lavender, Angelica root and Lemon Verbena with our own, not-so-fair, farming hands. We use real ingredients to make our 100% natural range of spirits, on our farm in the British countryside. To make our award-winning Rhubarb Gin, we press tonnes of real rhubarb, until we have enough juice to fill a third of every bottle. With 28 botanicals – including dried grapefruit peel, chamomile flowers, lavender, cubeb pepper and even quince, plus one top-secret ingredient – Warner Edwards Honeybee Gin is a truly virtuosic effort of distilling. But, despite the complexity of its creation, it’s deceptively simple and silky smooth on the palate. Just the second special edition in the Warner Edwards Botanical Garden range (it joins lemon balm-based Melissa Gin on the roster) will this Honeybee Gin be the last amazing flavour to come out of Curiosity? Certainly not – and with a gorgeous garden bursting with flavours and aromas to try, you can bet that the next Warner Edwards outing won’t play it safe, either. Tom says, “A great still really looks after you. Beyond that, it’s all about experimenting and building a relationship. These stills are killing themselves with each distillation – the copper degrades every time you run it. So they’re selfless bits of kit, and the heartbeat of our business.”Personalisation is available on the following 70cl Gins; Harrington Dry Gin, London Dry Gin, Lemon Balm Gin, Honeybee Gin, Elderflower Gin, Rhubarb Gin, Raspberry Gin, Sloe Gin, Spring Blossom, Strawberry & Rose Gin and Christmas Cake Gin Gin Fans, did you know you can personalise your very own bottle of Warner’s Gin! With up to 20 characters, you can customise a bottle with a message of your choice for your friends and loved ones (or even yourself!) It nearly killed me,” he laughs now, on the phone from Falls Farm, the beautiful Northamptonshire farm where he grew up, and which he would go on to convert into one of the first and most successful craft gin distilleries in the United Kingdom. He says, “We have an awesome butterfly plant in the garden, so there’s a huge number of bees and butterflies there. When you research it, bees are in so much trouble at the moment – humans need to get better at safeguarding our habitats and pollinators.” Tom says, “I wanted to make a gin with a big citrus hit, to have the nectar interacting with the citrussy notes. It’s the craziest gin, and it was hard to distil because of the sheer variety of botanicals.”

Scientists at the International Flavour Research Centre at the University of Nottingham confirm that focusing on the flavours, through reciting the tongue twister, will give you an enhanced tasting experience. As Tom explains, “There are a lot of gins where people are trying to make statements, and they become a palate killer. Honeybee Gin is quite a big gin in terms of its citrus and floral notes, but we distilled it very slowly. That makes it fresh and drinkable – a zippy, light gin that’s a strong favourite for us over the summer.” It was also here where Tom met his wife Tina, herself a farmer’s daughter whose interests and skills had taken her instead to the world of high finance. The pair met when Tom was visiting one of his classmates. Roku is Japanese for six and the gin is named after the six natural Japanese botanicals that Roku is made with – which take you on a tour of the Japanese seasons. A huge 31 botanicals go into The Botanist, including some native to Islay. The full list of botanicals is as follows: angelica root, apple mint, birch leaves, bog myrtle leaves, cassia bark, chamomile, cinnamon bark, coriander seed, creeping thistle flowers, elder flowers, gorse flowers, heather flowers, hawthorn flowers, juniper berries, lady’s bedstraw flowers, lemon balm, lemon peel, liquorice root, meadow sweet, orange peel, oris root, peppermint leaves, mugwort leaves, red clover flowers, tansy, thyme leaves, water mint leaves, white clover, wood sage leaves.There weren’t many gins you could drink neat,” she explains. “There were hints of growth, but nobody expected it to be as massive as it is now.” But, the more they learned, the more distilling gin took centre stage. And after a bit of research, they became convinced that making gin – or “the world’s best-tasting perfume”, as Tom calls it – was the way forward. Playing host? Our range of flavoured gins is sure to get the party started. Whether you prefer a classic dry gin or want to add some colour with pink gin, we’ve got a wide variety to choose from. Just some of the flavours we offer include summery strawberry, peach and mango. After graduation Tina toiled away in the City, while Tom worked all hours at a fresh produce importer. Strange as it sounds, now that Warner Edwards is synonymous with the craft gin movement, distilling spirits wasn’t the first idea Tom had for the business. In fact, it wasn’t even the second. But at that time, Tina says, gin was barely on the map. Say chin chin with our fabulous collection of gin. If you love a classic G&T, get your hands on your favourite gin brand, and don't forget the tonic water. And of course, grab some limes too. If you don't have a favourite brand, try a variety before making your mind up. Our gin miniatures are great way to sample our range of brands and flavours. You’ll also find the right gin glass from our glassware collection.

Every evening and weekend for a year, Tom and his team could be found sawing, hammering, planting and planning. He’d had the idea to build a botanical garden at the heart of his family farm, and he was determined to see it through. For Tina, it was a no-brainer. “My Mam had a beehive at home on the farm in Dublin,” she says. “Once they even swarmed up into the roof of the house! There was a connection there, and the idea just seemed to flow so well with the hedgerows on Falls Farm, and how everything we need to flavour all of our gins we owe to the work of bees.” I know, it’s a bit self-indulgent to chat about my personal 2022 Top Gins. Everyone’s all about the gin at the moment – But frankly, I don’t care! The drink I’ve loved for years is suddenly trendy, and that means there’s a whole raft of artisan makers and new flavours for me to try. Bring it on! There have never been so many fabulous gins to choose from – big brand names down to the smaller artisan gins that are popping up all over the place; everyone has upped their game and the choice now is staggering – and perhaps a little bewildering. So I have put together my personal list of 2022 Top Gins to help your Christmas gingle this year.

Disclaimer

There’s a lot of fakery in this world,” Tom muses, “and we don’t do that. The bottle looks good, the liquid tastes great and the message is real. It’s not just one element; it’s all combined.”