Hayman’s opens new gin distillery in London

Hayman’s has moved production of its gin portfolio from Essex back to London, just four miles from where the company was founded 150 years ago.

Hayman’s copper pot still, called Marjorie, has travelled from Essex to London

Hayman’s first announced its plans for the move in May last year.

James and Miranda Hayman, the fifth generation in the family of distillers, said moving the distillery back to London had been a lifelong ambition.

Miranda Hayman said: “In 1863 when our great great grandfather bought a very small gin distillery in London, he created lots of different gin recipes, and really started the family passion for making true English gin.

“It’s always been a lifelong ambition to come back to London and back to being a London distillery, it’s almost like we’ve come full circle.”

The new distillery, in Balham, south London, boasts three copper pot stills, called Miranda, Marjorie and Karin. Marjorie has been transported from the brand’s old distillery in Essex while Miranda and Karin are new additions.

The family behind the brand wanted the site to become a new “London gin house”, with everything together in one room and the stills taking pride of place.

Hayman’s new bottles were designed by Stranger and Stranger

James Hayman said: “I think the biggest challenge was finding the right location to have the distillery. We wanted everything to be in one area, we didn’t want to have the stills hidden behind a wall.”

The new site boasts an upstairs bar area that looks out over the distillery floor, which includes a laboratory and visitors area that the brand hopes to use for tastings and gin experiences.

As well as officially opening the new distillery, Hayman’s unveiled a new look for its gin range last night.

Created by packaging design company Stranger and Stranger, the new image aims to honour the brand’s heritage, while giving each bottle a contemporary feel.

Miranda said: “We wanted to retain that sense of heritage and of history that comes from our story, but also give it a contemporary feel and a splash of colour – that was very important to us.

“We’ve tried to bring out the history behind our London Dry gin, so on the capsule there are all these old Victorian street lamps. We wanted to use our history to highlight that we are producing a true English gin.”

The redesigned bottles will roll out across Hayman’s portfolio, with its London Dry expression bottled with a pale blue label, Old Tom is green and the brand’s Sloe Gin features a red design.