Having now announced my Mothers age online, I will now be working from an undisclosed location for my own protection once she see's this....but in the meantime, I thought I'd share a bit about my second trip to this beautiful distillery.
Having visited last in November last year, I was so blown away by the visual and informative aspects of this tour, that I knew I had to bring the mother dearest along to see it for herself. Based in the heart of rural Hampshire at a re-purposed paper mill, Bombay have, since 2010, called this beautiful venue home, using a revolutionary 'vapour infusion' method of distillation which makes Bombay Sapphire so distinctly unique.
Walking from the entrance lobby into the main courtyard, the stunning combination of classic and modern architecture is, for want of a better word, breathtaking. The original buildings stand side by side with Bombay's iconic botanical glasshouses which curve gracefully into the river test, and play host to the 10 botanicals in their natural state.
Having marvelled at the glasshouses and taken a walk through both, along with a beautiful display room covering the history of Bombay and gin itself, next up was a trip to the Botanical Dry Room to explore a range of 22 botanicals, by scent, to determine individual flavour preferences using an 'aroma map'... which enables visitors to then make an educated decision when it came to selecting a Bombay Cocktail at the end of the tour. Unsurprisingly my preferences lent heavily on the side of citrus and spice, with a nod to juniper. However, my eventual decision on cocktail was purely based on visual appeal rather than an informed choice...somewhat rebellious I grant you, but having already completed the tour and sampled (and thoroughly enjoyed) my recommended cocktail, it was time to venture into pastures new.
Aroma map complete, it was time for a guided tour of the Dakin still house, the smaller of the two working still houses at Laverstoke. To Bombay's enormous credit, their tour guides are extremely knowledgeable and clearly passionate about both the company and the rich history behind the product. Learn about the origins of the gin itself, the vapour infusion process and the family behind this groundbreaking method.
Chit chat and sampling (yep, you heard, and straight off the still too!) done, head to the Mill Bar for a complementary cocktail using your aroma map as a guide (or entirely futile endeavour, if you wish to be rebellious) and choosing from their 10 alcoholic, and 2 non alcoholic - for those of you who are clearly more responsible drivers than myself (before I get a barrage of messages... its a single measure people! I'm not a complete idiot, nor indeed, wildly irresponsible) cocktails.
Needless to say, Mother dearest loved every minute of this tour and I highly recommend it to all. So whatever the occasion (does there really need to be one) head over and book tickets here....you wont be disappointed (unless you really don't like gin, in which case it's probably not for you....but there's no accounting for taste I guess).
Cheers
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