Founded by Will Lowe and his wife Lucy, Cambridge Distillery is renown for their innovative approach to gin-making. Will is not only the distiller behind Cambridge Distillery, he’s also a Master of Wine, a rare enough accomplishment in itself. Distilled in England and blended with Icelandic spring water, Martin Miller’s is a soft-textured and beautifully balanced gin for a Dry Martini or a Perfect Martini. Citrus freshness combines with a soft and clean finish, making it a classic choice. Choose the higher-strength Martin Miller’s Westbourne (45.2% abv) for a Martini that delivers more juniper punch. Alc 40% 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. So, what’s next? “We’ve got big plans,” says Will ( right). “Collaborations with names such as Cambridge University Botanic Garden and Cambridge Satchel Company are helping us speak to new audiences, all the while communicating the message of how we achieve previously impossible quality standards: fresh botanicals, individually distilled and expertly blended.

After a conversation in a field while walking their much-loved Labrador Darcy, Lucy and Will Lowe decided to quit their jobs, start making gin, and set themselves up as the Cambridge Distillery. At the time Will was working in London as an educator in the wine trade, while Lucy worked at the Judge Business School in central Cambridge: but despite their 9 to 5 careers the couple were confident they’d eventually get round to creating a business for themselves. “We always knew that we’d end up powered by our interests,” says Lucy. “Ever since I was little I’d wanted to do my own thing: I always hugely disliked routine, and didn’t want to be at a desk from 9 to 5, and I loved the opportunities and freedom offered by working for yourself.” Of all the gins out there, none hit the sweet spot between classic gin flavour and moreish complexity quite like No. 3. If you have room for just one gin on your shelf, we’d make it this one. Charlotte Griffiths meetsthe duo behind the Cambridge Distillery, the local gin-makers putting our city on the map We founded Cambridge Distillery on the principal that no two botanicals are identical, and as such, they need to be treated differently. We wanted to expend the spectrum of fresh natural flavours available, so we created our own approach to distillation. Whilst we are by no means the only people using a low-pressure approach, our unique novo-dimensional vacuum distillation allows us to tailor temperature and pressure along with seven other parameters to each botanical. This means we can use the most delicate ingredients and gives us a level of precision vastly beyond that of traditional distillation. As such, we have been recognised three times as the most innovative distillery in the world. What do you think makes a great gin? But no matter where the next few years might take this Cambridge-grown success story, there’s one thing that’s certain: they’re still both happiest where the business began, out in the fields with Darcy, watching the seasons change.

The first half of the answer is very simple: being free from faults. It seems obvious, and yet in my role as a spirits judge I keep seeing poorly distilled products made with sub-par base spirits, cloudiness in the glass masquerading as ‘non-chill filtered’ (properly distilled products should always be crystal clear), and sweetening / flavouring being used in totally inappropriate ways. We’re proud of our beginnings in the living room at home but, whilst we’re a local company, we have truly global aspirations. Cambridge has always been an international benchmark for academic quality: it will soon be known for world-leading gin, too.” What is so unique about your approach to distillation and what makes Cambridge Distillery Gin so special?

It had been a private project for a few years already before we decided to turn it into a commercial venture. We (my wife Lucy and I) made that decision in 2011, whilst walking in the meadows around our home, and wondering out loud why nobody was making gins with real provenance – something which is so highly valued in wines and other spirits.There are four different types of gin: London dry gin, old Tom, Plymouth and navy strength gin. Is gin gluten-free? Other times botanicals are sourced more globally – botanicals from Japan for the (you guessed it) Japanese Gin, and truffles from Piemonte, Italy, for their Truffle Gin. Whichever gin they are making, each botanical is treated and distilled separately, and then blended to make the final gin. This is distinct from the vast majority of gins that blend and distill their botanicals in one batch.