Forest Distillery London Gin 70cl Porcelain Bottle

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Karl, who is a keen craft gin drinker, said: ‘At first it seemed such a small thing we were doing, making a recipe for ourselves, but we realised it was very good and started drinking it instead of our normal gins. We almost felt shy and sheepish about it but we started giving it to family and friends when they came round, and they pushed us into trying to sell it.’ The brand was founded by the husband & wife team Lindsay & Karl Bond, who were passionate that not only should the gin’s ingredients be locally sourced, but the material for the bottle should be too - hence the use of Staffordshire Porcelain. The brand employed Wade Ceramics, who have created bespoke ceramic products since 1810. They made the unique Forest Gin and then applied the artwork from respected Papercut artist Suzy Taylor by hand to each bottle. Taylor is known for hand cutting all of her artwork from a single piece of paper using a scalpel and a magnifying glass. It was ridiculous trading in that way,’ said Karl. ‘We really didn’t have the time to do it. We either had to stop making it or I had to quit my job. I made that jump and to be frank it still feels terrifying. I’m still scared.’ The early days of his experimentation in 2014 bore no resemblance to the product which is now highly rated as a top tipple by high profile food and drink critics. He said: ‘I was like a lot of blokes who make their own beer, except I was making gin. And it was pretty nasty stuff. I’d give it to my wife to taste each night and she would spit it out.’ Forest Gin is distilled in batches of a maximum of 85 bottles at a time. Each bottle contains these key elements:

These ingredients are ground by hand using a pestle & mortar, before being distilled by us here in Cheshire. The alcohol vapour and the flavoursome oils from the botanicals reach our copper condenser, where they are immediately cooled. This fragrant spirit is then blended with our spring water to create unfiltered London Dry Gin of the very highest quality.Forest Gin is distilled in small batches (a maximum of 85 bottles at a time) at the brand’s distillery based in a 17th Century stone barn within Macclesfield Forest in the Peak District National Park. This location provides perfect access for the gin’s botanicals that are foraged locally, such as Peak District moss and ferns or wild bilberries and raspberries, as well as a source of Forest Spring water from an ancient spring in the Peak District. The resulting spirit retains all of the herbal, earthy flavours of Forest Gin, whilst the addition of the Earl Grey Tea blend adds sumptuous, delicate notes from oolong, cornflowers and Sicilian bergamot. The Forest Gin Artwork is a one of a kind commission by the respected Papercut artist Suzy Taylor, whilst our Forest Whisky artwork is beautifully cut by Georgia Low.

But there was a Eureka moment and it was to change Karl’s home brew – and his life. ‘We live a foot away from the Peak District and at weekends we would go walking with the dog around here a lot and to Castleton, Buxton and Bakewell – all the nice places to walk. With Karl a full time craft gin producer, the family found new business premises in Macclesfield and this summer Lindsay also gave up her job to concentrate on Forest Gin. Although they have been approached by a big supermarket – the couple has decided to keep the operation small. And although the product is uniquely home grown and production is small scale its market is distinctly sophisticated, finding a home on the shelves of exclusive stores such as Harvey Nichols and the Conran Shop (in London and Paris) and restaurants such as the Hind’s Head in Bray, owned by the celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal. Our Award winning Forest London Gin is distilled by our family in the heart of the Macclesfield Forest. Made in batches of 85 bottles at a time each bottle containing only the finest botanicals and water from our distillery spring. Each bottle contains these key elements: SOURCED

The stills here are very small at 500 litres, so the production is tiny. Every drop is distilled by Lindsay Bond. However, the use of local barley, wild yeast strains and English Oak casks makes for a unique and intreaging spirit from above the clouds. Family-owned The Forest Distillery will now sell its Earl Grey gin in Canada through a distribution deal with BC Liquor Stores. Earl Grey Gin is part of The Forest Distillery’s three-strong spirits range Earl Grey Forest Gin is produced by the Bond family from our award winning distillery in The Peak District National Park. As the doors closed at the pub for the last time, a local family began a small business, selling gin which they distilled in their kitchen, using botanicals from the forest below The Cat and Fiddle. They called the product Forest Gin and it generated huge demand from the worlds best bars, hotels and department stores.

The Bond family swapped their ingredients entirely. Karl bought in organic certified juniper berries, organic certified coriander seeds and premium quality liquorice root, vanilla pods and angelica. ‘It became a bit of an obsession really,’ admitted Karl, ‘to source the best we could.’ Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. But the couple had no time to drink in the success of their product. By July 2015, just seven months into selling Forest Gin, they were exhausted. Both were working in the distillery past midnight each evening after work and had no time to spend with their families. It was a tipping point. We adjust the temperatures and the timing of wet and dry stages depending on the type and maturity of the barley and the final specification of malt we want.

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The Forest Distillery is a unique place where the bond Family and our small team lovingly distil small batches of spirits from wild foraged, locally sourced and organic ingredients combined with our pure, natural spring water.