First, our 6 botanicals, already dried & in small pieces, are precisely weighed and placed in a clean still. We use a traditional 100-year-old brick-encased copper pot still in Holland, the home of gin.
Then, the botanicals are added to the still and steeped, (rather than crushed), for 16 hours in ultra-pure premium grain spirit. We use an extra fine spirit crafted exclusively from organic French winter wheat. This process of 'steeping' rehydrates and softens the fruits and botanicals, helping deliver their flavour to the alcohol during distillation.
The next day, distillation begins, a process that takes up to 7 hours. The still is heated, turning liquid into vapour before condensing back to liquid again. The foreshots that emerge at the beginning of the run are collected, separated and removed. It’s then in this second stage where the botanicals begin to release all their beautiful flavours.
When the time is right, our Master Distiller decides when to ‘cut the middle’ taking only the 'heart' of the distillate, which is the purest and most flavourful essence of our 6 botanicals. At this point, the heart is around 76.5% ABV.
We triple-check our gin to ensure it meets our high standards of taste, density and alcohol content.
After a resting period and further filtration, the gin is diluted using fresh water to a precise 46% ABV. Which, according to our panel of experts, is the ideal ABV to allow our flavour profile to sing when mixed in classic and long cocktails, and especially for making Martinis.