Cotswolds Dry Gin
A tale of passion
Nestled amongst the rolling hills of the Cotswolds countryside, the Cotswolds Distillery was born from a dream to produce delicious spirits in one of the most beautiful regions in the world.
From hedgefunds to HEDGEROWS
It all started back in 2014, when our founder Dan, a native New Yorker and whisky connoisseur, had moved to the Cotswolds after working in finance in London for many years. Seeking to leave behind that world and spend more time in the picturesque countryside of the Cotswolds with his family, it eventually dawned on him that he could combine his love of whisky with his desire to start a new business. A dedicated whisky fan, Dan saw the fields of golden barley around his house in the Cotswolds and had a brainwave ‘I suddenly thought, there’s barley all over the Cotswolds and nobody’s distilling it, let’s be the first!’ Having found a derelict site near his house, he set about building a distillery and a team to run it, and the doors of the Cotswolds Distillery opened in July 2014.
The making of our GIN
Although Dan's dream was always to make whisky, he also wanted to create a full range of delicious spirits including gins and liqueurs. Our first project was the gin, on which we spent two months researching botanical recipes. We distilled 150 individual botanical spirits in a whole range of different flavors and set about experimenting with different combinations. Our distillers created over 60 individual gin recipes which we whittled down to one finalist, and that became our Cotswolds Dry Gin. It may have started as something of a side-project, but it’s now at the heart of what we do and we’re very proud of what we’ve created.
Our award-winning Cotswolds Dry Gin is a delectable blend of nine carefully-considered botanicals, including local lavender from the Cotswolds and freshly peeled pink grapefruit and lime zest. Due to the unusually high volume of botanicals we use, our gin causes a beautiful pearlescent cloud to appear when ice or tonic is added. A juniper-led gin with fresh citrusy notes and a hint of lavender.
CAREFULLY SOURCED INGREDIENTS
Juniper berries, coriander seed and angelica root form the classic foundation for our Cotswolds Dry Gin. We then add Cotswold lavender from nearby Snowshill and bay leaves. The citrus element comes from freshly-peeled lime and pink grapefruit zest - unusually we use fresh peels rather than dried because of the greater quantity of essential oils. This entails peeling several hundred limes and grapefruits per week, by hand! The final botanicals are cardamom seed and black peppercorn, to give a hint of spice.
TASTING NOTES
NOSE: Fresh notes of grapefruit with earthy coriander backed-up by sweet, piney juniper. A hint of perfumed Cotswold lavender.
PALATE: Clean, pine juniper spice with fresh citrussy grapefruit. A touch of dryness from the angelica root, with eucalyptus notes from bay leaf. Subtle lime and lavender.
FINISH: Clean and balanced. Juniper, citrus and some cooling notes from bay leaf and cardamom.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
For the perfect Cotswolds Cloudy G&T, fill a large copa glass with ice, pour over a 50ml measure of gin and top with classic tonic water. Garnish with a slice of pink grapefruit and a fresh bay leaf.
