Sipsmith was one the first gins I ever tried when dipping my toes into the world of gin. It’s a delicious, well-balanced traditional London Dry that has always been synonymous with quality to me, and because of that, it’s always had a home on my gin shelf.

The Tour

Recently I headed over to their base in Chiswick, West London, for a tour to find out more about their gins.

Given how big of a brand Sipsmith are, I didn’t expect their distillery to be so tucked away at the back of a small warehouse. What they might lack in space, they more than make up for with distillers though. The hand-made nature of their drinks means they have 8 distillers working there, more than at Bombay Sapphire and Beefeater combined.

Tim, one of the distillers, was our host for the evening tour, taking us through the history of Sipsmith and the techniques and origins of their gins. A very familiar classic G&T with their London Dry gin was the perfect way to ease us into the in-depth history lesson.

It was Sipsmith founders Fairfax, Sam and Jared, together with Prudence, their original 300ltr still, who broke the rulebook and set the path for the current tidal wave of craft gin distilleries opening around the country. As part of the tour, we were shown the original license that started it all, and it was with that they became the first for a copper pot distillery in London for more than 180 years.

During the tour we tasted several of their gins, including the classic London Dry that most are familiar with, as well as more unusual Sipping Society creation Strawberries & Cream gin.

When Sipsmith introduced their Lemon Drizzle gin as an M&S exclusive product it was the fastest selling spirit M&S had ever sold. Distiller Tim was a fountain of interesting facts like this, and was a brilliant guide through this world considering the fairly large group.

It’s a great tour and whether you’re an expert or completely new to gin, Sipsmith is a classic everyone can appreciate. Their passion and knowledge of the craft definitely comes through in the tour and you can’t help but have a greater appreciation of their mark on the gin industry.

Find out more about the Sipsmith Tour on their website.