Master Tour launches at Plymouth Gin Distillery

Situated on Southside Street, not far from a pretty harbour, is Plymouth Gin Distillery, the oldest working distillery in England, which this Easter, is launching a Master Distiller's Private Tour for visiting gin lovers. Steeped in history, the building dates back to the early 1400s. Its Refectory, the oldest part of the building, has been used variously as a monastery, a debtors' prison, a billet for Huguenot refugees, and a place where Pilgrim Fathers spent their last night before setting sale on the Mayflower for America in 1620. Many people were hanged there and some locals now claim that it is haunted.

LONG HISTORY

While records show that a ‘mault house' was present on the premises from 1697, it wasn't until 1793 that Mr Coates established the distilling business Fox & Williamson (later Coates & Co) and the distilling of Plymouth Gin began. By this time, a law had been passed which only allowed licensed public houses to sell gin. Along with a few tax hikes, this turned gin from a vehicle of working class escapism, as depicted in Hogarth's Gin Lane of 1950, into a respectable middle-class beverage.

"Coming to work in a 600 year old building with a 200 year old gin gives you a sense of heritage," says Master Distiller, Sean Harrison, who is taking me on a sneak peak tour, before it officially opens to the public on 6th April, "I happen to make one of the great gin brands in the world." But it wasn't always this way, he tells me over a delicious lunch at the stylish Barbican Brasserie, a new Tanner Brothers venture, situated within the distillery building.

NEW MASTER DISTILLER TOUR

In the 1920s and 30s, Plymouth Gin was a staple of all the best cocktails including the Dry Martini, the Gimlet, and the Pink Gin, and featured in over 27 cocktails in the famous Savoy Cocktail Book. Over the Second World War however, it became increasingly difficult to import the quality ingredients needed for the unique Plymouth Gin recipe. Instead of closing production, as Sean points out should have happened, the distillery, still under the guardianship of Mr Coates, continued making and selling gin. The quality went down and customers were lost, but by the time the war was over and quality was back where it had been, vodka was becoming fashionable as the favourite tipple of a certain James Bond. Its fortunes never really recovered and to this day, vodka outsells gin by some margin.

But this looks set to change with Plymouth Gin's impressive array of initiatives underway. The Master Distiller's Tour, lead by an impressively knowledgeable and articulate Sean, is a good start. The tour takes approximately two and a half hours and includes: a brief history of gin; a tour of the distilling room, where the same recipe is handcrafted in a copper still; a tasting session, which illustrates the range of tastes between brands; and finally, the opportunity to create your own personal micro gin still.

COCKTAIL COURSE

My own still is pretty disgusting (too citrusy), but the taste is quickly taken away by a delicious Gin Sour, rustled up by a one of the bartenders (between them they know over 200 cocktail recipes) in the cocktail bar, a welcoming place with red walls and sprawling brown leather sofas, which now occupies the historic Refectory. "There's something mythical about being able to make a cocktail," says Sean, whose personal favourite is a Negroni with gin, campari and red vermouth. Its why, Plymouth Gin, along with City College Plymouth, has teamed up with City & Guilds to create the first credited Professional Bar Tenders' Course, which, amongst other things, will teach students how to mix a proper cocktail.

As I contemplate the fascinating history of this unique distillery and the light from a sunny spring day filters through the windows of the Refectory, I spy a well-thumbed book behind the bar - The Savoy Cocktail Book - it's a sure sign that Plymouth Gin and indeed the art of a good cocktail is in safe hands.

TOUR

The Master Distillers Private Tour (£40) takes two and a half hours and is open to the public from 6th April 2010. Booking in advance essential.

The Gin Connoisseur's Tour (£15) lasts an hour and a half and includes a distillery tour and comparative tastings of Plymouth and other styles of gin. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 4.30pm. Book in advance. Group tours can be arranged at other times.

Plymouth Gin Distillery Tour (£6) lasts approx. 40 minutes. Starts half past every hour from 10.30apm to 4.30 pm Monday to Saturday and from 11.30am to 4.30pm on Sundays. Ring on the day. Group tours can be arranged at other times.

All bookings can be made by calling 01752 665 292. To find out more about Plymouth Gin, visit www.plymouthgin.com

Emily Jenkinson

12 March 2010