Visit to London Distillery Company 2015

On the 27th October 2015, fourteen members visited The London Distillery Company near Battersea Park.

After everybody had got their welcoming Dodd’s gin, Fever-tree tonic and especially selected ice, we were given an informal presentation - a brief history of how the distillery came to be set up and the materials used to add flavour to the bought-in neutral base spirit (with the opportunity to stick your nose into jars of some of the ingredients – juniper, angelica, black cardamom, bay – followed by a sample of urban honey).  

Unfortunately, the main gin still had been temporarily moved away to LDC’s gin bar and pop-up shop in Soho. To lessen any disappointment, we had a second tasting of Dodd’s gin, this time neat.  But we still reviewed the laboratory-scale vacuum still used to extract the essence of some of the ingredients.  

In addition to their own, premium, Dodd’s gin, LDC also supply Fortnum & Masons with their own-brand gin and are about to launch a gin for Kew Gardens (using botanicals sourced from the gardens, including a carefully-selected lavender).  The Dodd’s bottle even documents the home postcode of the bees that supplied the honey (apparently, yes, it does make a difference).

Moving on to the whisky side of the distillery, we looked at the outside of the mashing vessel, peered into the fermenting vessel (to see beer from which the latest batch was being produced) and then admired the copper still, made in Germany.  The importance of the type of malt was discussed, with expensive organic Marris Otter and Plumage Archer from the Highgrove Estate being used here.  Likewise, the importance of distilling in a copper vessel was highlighted, with the copper content of the final product influencing the flavour.

Finally we inspected the storage of the end result - small and large oak casks, made by the last English cooper still in business.  To be legally called whisky, it has to remain in cask for at least three years (as yet, it is undecided whether to market it as whisky or whiskey).  As a warming finale, we tested some of the full-strength (63% ABV) whisky from one of the large casks.