My first distillery visit in a long time happened this weekend. And it was lovely and local – with Stockport Gin, slap bang in the centre of, yes you guessed it, Stockport.
They’ve recently moved their whole set up from their home to St Petersgate, and now not only can you buy your gin direct from them, you can also book in for a full tour of the distillery, learn more about them and their story, and about how their gin is made.
So, without giving too much away (so if you fancy it, you can book it yourself with minimal spoilers), let me take you through the visit, and tell you about them.
On arrival we were greeted by one half of the husband and wife team, Paul, and treated to a G&T featuring their original gin.
My favourite kind of welcome, the gin kind. After a brief foray into the history of gin while we sipped, Paul also took us through their own story, how they met (it all started with football), onto their love of gin, and where the spark for creating Stockport Gin began.
Moving from the bar to the distillery itself, Paul talked us through the process of creating each of their gins, from their first to the bespoke gins created for the Frog Trail. He also introduced us to their original still, a copper alembic still, to their current, more modern stainless steel, electric controlled still, and the difference in processes for each.
The more modern still has allowed them to move from one shot direct distillation, to a combination of direct and vapour infusion of four of the main botanicals for the original gin. Given this recipe is the base for all their gins, it’s had an impact throughout the range.
Paul took us through production, to resting, to bottling and labelling, all done in house.
And of course we sampled all the available gins. From the original, through to the most recent Frog Trail gin, featuring fruits and flavours from nearby Stockport Market.
Whilst I may have bought some for a more in depth sampling, I’ve detailed the tasting notes below. Please note that these are for the neat gins, as I say, I need to do both neat, and G&T for full notes, but these should give you an idea of what to expect.
Stockport Gin (Original) – big juniper backbone, lots of citrus sits at the front, a little spike from the cubeb pepper on the tip of the tongue. Classic London Dry style gin.
Pink Edition – this features the original gin, which is then infused with strawberries, raspberries and pomegranate. No extra sweetness is added. So you still get that big juniper backbone, that sweep of citrus, before the berries finish the flavour profile. Neat, the raspberries really take centre stage. I expect with a little tonic more of the fruit will come out to play.
Onto the Twist of Lime Edition – originally brought out for the first Frog Trail, this takes the same flavour, but bumps the citrus right the way up til it bites. This would be a stunning gin in a Ramos Fizz, or a Tom Collins.
Our penultimate sample was of the Pink Grapefruit and Pink Peppercorn Gin. It’s got a wave of sweetness, but also a big bite of bitterness at the end. This is from the pink grapefruit, which when tight gives a bitter flavour. A little tonic, and it will come out to play with more florals and fruitness that pink grapefruit has to offer.
Finally, the latest Frog Trail edition. This is made using a variety of ingredients from Stockport Market, including greengages, cherries and elderflower. The latter really comes through with earthiness, which rather dominates, but it’s another that a little mixer will allow to open up, and let the fruit come through to play.
If you fancy a tour of your own, these can be booked online, or in the distillery shop for £25 per person. This includes two G&Ts during the tour, samples of all the gins on offer, and a 10% discount on full size bottles.