Durham Gin launched by former NHS chief

The first 200 bottles of Durham Gin, the “first” gin to be produced in County Durham, UK, have been released by a former National Health Service (NHS) chief.

Durham Gin is made from a blend of 10 botanicals including juniper berries imported from Italy

Jon Chadwick worked as an NHS chief for 12 years but after taking redundancy, changed career paths and launched his own gin distillery in County Durham.

Bottled at 40% abv, Durham Gin is produced in a 400-litre handmade copper gin still called Lily, that was specially commissioned and imported from Spain, and is able to produce small batches of just 200 bottles at a time.

Despite the controversial change of career, Chadwick says the goal is to get people away from binge drinking and cheap alcohol which he expresses in the brand’s mantra: “drink less, drink better”.

“We are never going to get to the stage where we are all abstemious, so what we need to do is get people away from binge drinking and cheap alcohol,” Chadwick told The Journal.

“What we have is a gin of genuine integrity that is handcrafted in small batches using traditional methods and made with the highest quality ingredients by people who are truly passionate about what they are doing.

“We don’t buy the gin from elsewhere and rebottle it. We select the botanicals ourselves and each batch of gin takes three days to make at the distillery. By the time it reaches the drinker it is premium gin tat tastes very special.”

Durham Gin contains 10 botanicals, including juniper berries, which have been imported from Italy, pink peppercorns, cardamom, celery and coriander, blended by distiller David Wilkinson.

It is described as a mix of “traditional” flavours such as orris and angelica, with hints of cardamom and citrus notes from the orange, lemon peel and coriander seeds.

Chadwick said he believes craft micro-distilleries will become increasingly important, and has joined the Scottish Craft Distillers Association.

“We like to think that in the future our customers will choose their spirits based on a knowledge and understanding of their provenance and characteristics,” he added.

Durham Gin costs £25 per 700ml bottle and is available from www.durhamdistillery.co.uk.