Distiller's Notes | Lantic Turns Eight

Why I still love making gin

Lantic Gin turned eight this year, and it got me thinking about what it is that keeps me inspired.

For me, it’s the craft and creativity that goes into making gin.

Whilst there are some rules for making a London Dry Gin, mainly around how you distil the spirit, with juniper having to be the predominant flavour, gin still gives you an incredible amount of freedom to experiment and create something of your own.

Foraging around Lantic Bay in Cornwall

When I first started Lantic, I was completely self-taught

There were no recipe books to follow, and the industry seemed extremely secretive when it came to sharing information. I also wanted to take things a step further, using botanicals that grow here in Cornwall rather than simply making the gin here.

I remember spending weeks and months distilling every single botanical I could find on its own, then together, to arrive at the Original Lantic Gin recipe.

I also learned the hard way that some of them aren’t sticking around forever.

Nature gave me some useful boundaries. What grows in abundance? What’s easy enough to reach? What can I pick responsibly? And what sticks around for long enough to actually use it?

That challenge has always been part of what I enjoy.

It also inspired me to create seasonal gins where I could use less common ingredients that might only be around for a short time. Things like magnolia buds, meadowsweet or the birch sap I use in Morva.

It took me years to finally swap my office job for something I’d always enjoyed doing: being outdoors, making things with my own hands and experimenting with flavours.

Eight years later, that’s still pretty much what keeps me interested.

For now, I’m back in the distillery making Winter Foraged Gin and seeing what this season brings.

Alex