Meet the female distillers making gin more popular than beer

November 10, 2017

Thanks to the rise of artisan distilleries, savvy women are helping to make the quintessentially British spirit more popular than beer, reports Miranda Thompson.

In 2016 UK gin sales broke the £1 billion mark – overtaking beer revenues for the first time – with shoppers snapping up 40 million bottles

Gin, gin, glorious gin! Not since the 18th century has the country fallen so head over heels for the spirit. The statistics speak for themselves: in 2016 UK sales broke the £1 billion mark – overtaking beer revenues for the first time – with shoppers snapping up 40 million bottles of the juniper-based beverage. That’s enough to make 28 gin and tonics for every person of legal drinking age in the UK. In Waitrose, gin sales are up 20 per cent, surpassing all other spirits, while at Majestic Wines (which added 115 gins to its range last year), sales are up 108 per cent.

And the drinks industry has responded in kind. Following a relaxation of HMRC regulations on the size of the still required to produce gin suitable for the open market, micro-distilleries and craft producers are on the up too. ‘Rather than a 1,500-litre still, it enabled us to start manufacturing with a ten-litre still in our kitchen,’ says Claire Fletcher of Lussa Gin, based on the Scottish island of Jura. In 2016 more than 50 new distilleries opened in the UK, with artisan producers reportedly taking the market share from global giants.

Left: Liberty London Old Tom Gin, £30 for 500ml, libertylondon.com. Right: Unicorn Tears Gin Liqueur, £42.50 for 500ml, harveynichols.com

The Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA) has named it the ‘gin boom’: ‘People have increasingly sophisticated palates. They are interested in the locality, provenance and authenticity of what they are drinking and products made from quality ingredients and botanicals,’ says WSTA Chief Executive Miles Beale. Indeed. This year, we’ve been drinking gin with ginger ale (a flavour enhancer), ordering it straight (Liberty London Old Tom Gin is delicious), and trying out gin liqueurs (how about Unicorn Tears from Harvey Nichols?).

In gift season, gin is the perfect choice too, Beale adds. ‘It’s fantastic to see the quintessentially British spirit supporting a wider industry, with gin-themed gifts now selling like hot cakes.’ After the spirit-filled tree baubles created by Pickering’s Gin went viral across the internet last Christmas, the Scottish company has scaled up production for this year, adding six new members of staff and 19 ‘part-time elves’ as well as working ‘round the clock since early spring to fill the 20,000 baubles’, says Brand Manager Leah Shaw Hawkins. Meanwhile, gin subscription service Craft Gin Club has seen membership double in the past year.

A ginaissance, you say? We’ll raise a glass to that!

Gin Baubles, £30 for six, pickeringsgin.com

The female gin geniuses who are lifting our spirits

Lussa Gin

In 2015, three gin-loving neighbours and entrepreneurs sat around a kitchen table on the remote Isle of Jura in the Inner Hebrides and came up with the idea for Lussa gin. Georgina Kitching (below left, 42), Alicia MacInnes (centre, 39) and Claire Fletcher (right, 49) produce the spirit from 15 locally grown botanicals. Describing themselves as ‘not just gin lovers, we’re adventurers’, the trio harvest sea lettuce by rowing boat and climb trees to collect pine needles.

£40 for 70cl, lussagin.com

Warner Edwards

Tina Warner-Keogh, 34, and her husband Tom turned to gin production to ensure a brighter future for their cattle farm in Harrington, Northamptonshire. In 2012 the farm-made, hand-finished, ‘steeped in provenance’ Warner Edwards brand was launched, and last month the couple signed a deal to export to the Edeka group, the largest supermarket chain in Germany.

Harrington Honeybee gin, £40 for 70cl, warneredwards.com

Sibling

Producing alcohol runs in the family for sisters Clarice (above right, 24) and Cicely Elliott-Berry (left, 22) – their parents run a real ale brewery. Opting not to go to university, the sisters launched their Cheltenham-based gin brand Sibling in 2014 with brothers Felix and Digby. They chose gin because, says Clarice, ‘it is the spirit that allows for the most creativity, involvement and control in the overall flavour – and it tastes great!’ They now have a team of employees and sell around 30,000 bottles a year.

£35 for 70cl, siblingdistillery.com

Graveney Gin

Victoria Christie grew up with a passion for gin, fuelled by her mother’s love of G&Ts. Having shared her gin journey on social media, in 2015 she launched her entirely organic Graveney Gin, selling 120 of the first 200 bottles, made from a 5-litre still, at a festival. Since then, with crowdfunded support, she has left her job in digital banking and opened the Graveney Gin bar and distillery in Tooting Market, South London.

£18.50 for 300ml, graveneygin.co.uk

Brighton Gin

Former restaurateur Kathy Caton, 43, launched Brighton Gin in 2014 with a first run of 400 bottles. Now its distillery, run by a mostly female team – from early-20s to mid-70s – near the seaside in Hove, produces around 600 bottles a day. In 2017 Brighton Gin beat 300 other UK brands to take top spot in The People’s Choice Gin category of the People’s Drinks Awards.

£22.50 for 350ml, brightongin.com

Forest Gin

Lindsay Bond, 36, and her husband Karl distil their Forest Gin next to Macclesfield Forest, Cheshire. And it is in said forest that their daughter Harriet, nine, helps out by foraging for bilberries and raspberries. The business started as a hobby, but by its second year it had scooped two double gold medals at the 2016 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The label’s lovely Staffordshire-made porcelain bottles are winners too.