Craft London gin Sipsmith takes on the US

“Craft” gin distiller Sipsmith has secured distribution in the US for the first time, becoming available to the market from 1 September.

California-based importer and distributor Wilson Daniels has been appointed by the Hammersmith-based distillery to market Sipsmith London Dry Gin across the US.

The Sipsmith distillery, which was founded in 2009, installed a second pot still in April to double its output capacity after receiving interest from overseas distributors including Spain, Japan, China, Taiwan, India, most of Europe and Australia, which Sipsmith claims is its biggest market so far.

Despite having such wide distribution, coupled with the volume potential the US market now affords, Sipsmith founder Sam Galsworthy told The Spirits Business earlier this year that the distillery – which currently produces around 800 bottles a day – would always remain “craft”.

“We define craft as handmade, artisan, small batch,” he said. “We are a business built by entrepreneurs who have a passion for improving the category, not for profit. We want to create something with a legacy not instant return.

“We will remain small batch; not made out of concentrate product, not made in any other way than in small quantities. For us that’s the ceiling. We’re redefining what small batch means. You make better products when you have a smaller yield as there’s greater depth and flavour.”

Wilson Daniels is the exclusive distributor of Sipsmith in the US and will retail Sipsmith London Dry Gin from 1 September at an RRP of US$42. The duo also have plans to launch Sipsmith Sloe Gin in the US in mid-2014.