MOVERS & SHAKERS
CAMBRIDGE DISTILLERY IN NUMBERS
Founded in
Sites in Cambridge
Countries sold in
Coldest point in distillation process
Current staff
Individual distillations to create one bottle of Watenshi
Gins tasted by our master distiller in 2018
run out of the gin we’d made,” explains Lucy. “They offered Will’s uncle any one of all the other gins in the cupboard, but in the absence of ours he refused, choosing a beer instead. That’s when we knew.” First came the tailored gins, created (as the Raspingly Dry Gin was) specifically for individuals to meet their unique tastes and requirements. Tailoring clients sit down with Will to sample different botanical distillates, while he works slowly towards blending the client’s perfect gin. It's a service still offered to this day, to some extremely high-end businesses including British Airways, many Cambridge University colleges and the House of Lords, as well as discerning individuals looking for the ‘pinnacle of spirits personalisation’. The couple are steadfastly discreet about the famous faces that have come through the distillery’s doors, but will reveal that Olympians, actors and “national-treasure-status” TV presenters are among the distillery’s alumni. After tailoring came the Seasonal Gins: biannual, limited-edition spirits first exclusively stocked by London’s Selfridges, created from botanicals harvested in the preceding six months. Lucy and Will had collected seasonal botanicals to use in the creation of their clients’ tailored gins, but realised these distillates had extra potential as sapid recordings of the passing years. Despite their relatively low profile (“We had a Twitter account, and I think this was around the early days of Instagram, so nothing was happening there – and we had a website, which Will built – but that was basically it,” says Lucy), the sheer quality of spirits being
created were starting to attract national attention. It was clear the couple would have to make some changes. “In 2012, Will went part time with his job in London. I was first to give in my notice, so I could do all the admin behind the scenes,” explains Lucy. “We needed Will for the tailorings, of course, and then I did everything else around that – the bookings, invoicing and so on – and even distilling while he was still working. I remember giving in my notice and I was shaking, because it was such a big step for us. My manager just went: ‘Oh, that’s a shame, but best of luck’ – it was such an anti-climax,” Lucy laughs. In 2014, the Seasonal Gins were followed by Japanese Gin, the first in this now hugely popular sector, created from delicate Japanese flavours that were
IMAGES The Cambridge Gin Laboratory in the city centre provides gin tastings and the opportunity to blend your own bottle of gin
Looking at the Distillery's creations, it's easy to understand why it's been named three consecutive times as the most innovative spirit-makers in the world".
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