A masterclass in distillation with Salcombe Gin

How does one make award-winning gin? If you ask Salcombe Distilling Co founders Angus Lugsdin and Howard Davies, it is all about putting in the care and precision into producing the best quality products. When they first launched Salcombe Gin ‘Start Point’ in 2016, it quickly gained critical acclaim. Since then, Salcombe Gin has grown in spades, launching many more spirits to similar reception.

The founders of this company were inspired by the coastal town of Salcombe in Devon, where their headquarters and distillery is located, and wanted to create a product that captured the essence of their coastal home. 

Clearly, this is not a one-off product. Salcombe Distilling Co has consistently delivered high quality gin — from their Mediterranean Rosé inspired gin, Salcombe Gin ‘Rosé Sainte Marie’, to the British coastal gin ‘Four Seas’. So when they hosted a live distillation event at Amathus Drinks in South Kensington, we had to check it out.The live distillation was led by co-founder Angus Lugsdin, who demonstrated the process by creating a one off micro batch London Dry gin. Throughout the process, Angus explained how the gin is made, what type of botanicals they use to produce the different flavour profiles and how they ensure they produce the highest quality spirits.

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He also walked us through a gin tasting masterclass, complete with four Salcombe Gin products — the ‘Start Point’, the pink gin ‘Rosé Sainte Marie’, their latest Voyager series product ‘Daring’ and their single estate Salcombe rum ‘Lantern Rock’. It was an education into the various flavours of gin, and how adding tonics and fruits to the drink can bring different flavours out.My favourite drink from the bunch was the Rosé Sainte Marie, a sweeter gin, whose flavour was further enhanced by the addition of a piece of strawberry. Another highlight was ‘Daring’, which is a limited edition gin made in collaboration with Michelin-starred chef Paul Ainsworth.

The brand is also very sustainable, as all Salcombe Gin products contain no plastic packaging and the bottles use biodegradable cellulose tamper proof seals. 

Having seen a small-scale presentation of the distillation first hand, one thing is clear: Salcombe Distilling Co is consistently producing high quality gin, and the only way to go is up.

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