Concoct a recipe that really captures your personal flair, then watch in awe as your artisanal creation comes to life through the distillation process. This gin deserves nothing less than to be sipped over a few big chunks of ice in your favourite tumbler. Add tonic to that equation and you have one of the tastiest G&Ts we've ever encountered. We've rested our signature Dorset Dry Gin in used Port barrels from Portugal - perfectly combining dry piney juniper and herbaceous brightness with notes of vanilla oak, warm spice and sweet red fruits. Their distillery tours have been awarded TripAdvisor’s #1 Thing to Do in Manchester so don’t just take our word for it! This wasn’t simple a case of soaking Conker Gin in a lump of wood, rather a little tweaking had to be done. The distillery’s flagship offering was reduced to around 45%ABV before being added to former Port barrels (8 at a time) and left to rest for 8 weeks. Once maturation reaches its optimum moment, with the liquid taking on a fiery, caramel hue, it’s disgorged and diluted to bottling strength with water.

Let’s talk about the relationship between you and Marco Pierre White, that was an exciting development, how did it come about and what has the relationship with him enabled the company to do? Founded in 2016 by owner and Master Distiller Neil Harrison, Nelson’s is a small-batch distiller based in the picturesque Staffordshire countryside and producers of the special edition Gluggle Jug Gin, Craft Gin Club’s Gin of the Month in June 2019.There are four different types of gin: London dry gin, old Tom, Plymouth and navy strength gin. Is gin gluten-free?

You’ll even get to apply a wax seal and label to your 70cl bottle so it’s ready to be taken home the very same day.Get ready to discover The Spirit of Manchester Distillery, a state-of-the-art distillery in the heart of the city. The resulting distillate is at a strength of 80% ABV. The hearts cut is left to sit for two weeks before Holloway blends it to 40% bottling strength with New Forest spring water. The marketing spiel says this is “gin, just as it should be”, and while marketing spiels are usually guff, this one happens to be spot on. It’s hard to find a gin simultaneously this archetypal – it’s a classic London Dry – this elegant, and this flavourful (the finish goes on and on). Whether you’re a G&T obsessive or martini connoisseur, No. 3 hits the mark every time. Though, for the record: we like it best with a slug of classic Indian tonic. In this fabulous experience, you can join the Salcombe Distilling Co. team at their waterside Distillery Bar overlooking Salcombe Estuary in Devon to uncover the art of distillation. The drink sits well when sipped on ice, but the very nature of its evenly-spread botanical mix means that its one you can play with. The lime can be dressed up in a G&T with a lime peel, while the gorse flower sweetness could be accentuated by adding in some Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic.

In our pursuit of new and exciting spirits, we've brought together two of our favourite tipples to create a gin like no other. The great thing about gin is it can be stored for years without going off, but it’s recommended to drink it within two years of opening. Even if you tightly reseal it, it’ll likely lose taste and quality if you leave it any longer. What are the different types of gin? You'll learn how they create their award-winning spirits; from the selection and distillation of botanicals, to the intricate field-to-glass journey of the ethically sourced speciality coffees of their famous Conker Coffee Liqueur. For Conker Gin, the eureka moment came when Holloway realised that he couldn’t buy a local G&T, despite the fact that there are craft brewers and distillers popping up all over the country. He knew right away that distilling was what he wanted to do and (despite no formal qualifications) began distilling almost instantly in December 2013. Still, that doesn’t mean things have to remain static. Since launching, there have been two additions to the range, with both a Cask Aged and a Navy Strength releases in the winter of 2018. Conker Barrel Aged Gin to taste:

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Made by historic London wine merchants Berry Bros. & Rudd, the six-botanical spirit took two years to develop with Dr David Clutton – a man who holds a PhD in gin (yep, that exists). It was worth the effort. With its state-of-the-art 150 litre copper still “Victory” (aptly named after HMS Victory), Nelson’s produces high-quality award-winning spirits, quality controlled by Neil himself. Delve into the fascinating history of gin and let your creativity flourish as you craft a blend uniquely tailored to your taste using a selection of botanicals, fruits, and exotic spices. I wanted Conker to be known as an innovative drinks producer, rather than another gin brand jumping on the band wagon. So for our second product, we took our time deliberately avoided the well-trodden gin distiller’s path of expanding into flavoured gins and instead focussed on creating something innovative and meaningful. Though a little craggy around the edges now, Holloway was a fresh face in the drinks industry when Conker Gin launched. Prior to starting the distillery he worked as a chartered surveyor, a job in which days stretched on for weeks and weeks into years. When he hit 29, he had what he calls “an early midlife crisis,” and decided to get out of there, deciding, quite suddenly, that he’d be “bitterly disappointed if I retire or die doing what I currently do for a living.”

The aroma is unsurprisingly, given the intentions, overwhelmingly rich with pine and elderberry, a duo that we’ll confess to having a soft spot for here at Gin Foundry. Forest floor with deep red jammy fruit is hard not to love and this gin teases you in to sniffing far too aggressively. The fact that it’s high-proof turns this delicious combination into something of a weapon, because a few deep breaths in and you’ll be coughing in the corner and yet you still feel compelled to do it all over again. On the lips, the juniper hits at the same time as the spirit, creating a pine explosion that’s further accentuated by the vivacious nature of the lime peel, which also leaps in to makes itself known. Once the moment passes, juniper and elderberry intermingle happily and a warming heat of cassia comes through on a dry finish. Everything you love in a gin, met with the sweet comfort of port and the intrigue of the oak barrel.This is always a hard question, mostly because it’s all a struggle but also because when you are running your own busiess it helps to have a short memory when it comes to the pain! The hardest learning curve is learning how deal with the daily grind. The realisation that the headaches and challenges exist even in businesses that have ‘made it’ helps you take it more in your stride, letting go of things in your downtime and building a great team to help you take it on. BLM talked to Holloway about setting up Conker Spirit, how the business has changed over time and what’s in the future. While gin is made from distilled grain spirit, it doesn’t contain gluten peptides and is therefore gluten-free and safe for coeliacs. The verdict: Best gin 2023 The name Conker, incidentally, was a happy accident. Holloway sent his girlfriend Emily a message to say that he’d decided to create a gin and she replied, quite accidentally, with the word ‘conker.’ He realised it was the perfect name: “nostalgic, very British and a word everyone knows but rarely uses. I now get to call myself ‘Head Conkerer’ as well.” The internet has been absolutely crucial to us. Simply put, Conker wouldn’t have happened without it, and in the early days that was the only marketing we could afford. We’ve coined the phrase ‘Transparency is our marketing’, meaning that all we do is show people what we do day to day, rather than cooking up some marketing around a boardroom table. We simply use our social media channels to give a little window into the life of a Conkerer! Once the business was starting to grow, we took on a PR firm which put Conker in most of the mainstream media, which of course had a big impact.