Tom Warner and Sion Edwards met at Harper Adams Agricultural College, Newport, Shropshire back in 1997, and founded the Warner Edwards Distillery in 2012. Based in the Northamptonshire village of Harrington, a converted barn on Tom’s family farm houses their bespoke Arnold Holstein still "Curiosity".
This unique 500 litre still, built in Germany to their specific design, is named after the paw prints that appeared in the wet concrete of the distillery floor during its construction! Originally the friends had plans to produce essential oils from crops such as lavender that they would grow on their two farms, extraction of the oils would require a still, and then the question what said still could be used for out of season. Alcohol was the answer, and essential oils just couldn’t compete with this new idea! The small pot distillations take around seven hours using the finest grain spirit, spring water from the farm and a mix of 11 botanicals, which include juniper, coriander, and cardamom. The construction of the still gives a large surface area of copper, and copper contact is key in producing their ultra smooth gin. The distillery was given a publicity boost five months after its first batch was released when it featured on BBC’s Countryfile in Spring 2013. The future looks very bright for the Warner Edwards Distillery
England
