IF ever there was confirmation that Mother’s Ruin is now our most respectable tipple of choice it’s G&J Greenall’s plans for a new distillery in Manchester city centre.
The Warrington-based company behind Ophir, Bloom, Greenall’s and Thomas Dakin expect by spring 2019 to have opened the Thomas Dakin Gin Distillery in Lloyd street, which encompasses a visitor experience, gin academy and shop, alongside a spacious bar and live music space called the Amiable Club.
Subject to council approval, the two floor experience will occupy the former Arcon Housing offices. The distillery (above) has been designed by Dublin-based SSA Architects, and features large copper stills which will be viewed through three large crittal-type windows to the front, lit at night to 'offer a pleasant 24-hour shopfront window'.
Expected to pull in 60,000 visitors a year, it’s a homage to the hand-crafted small batch Thomas Dakin brand recreated via recipes unearthed in Manchester Central Library and Manchester Museum’s records. Back in the mid-18th century Dakin pioneered the classic London dry gin style in Warrington.
All this is proof (sic) once again of the resurgence of our interest in spirits. Manchester’s first ever city centre gin distillery, Manchester Three Rivers, up on Red Bank, already offers a popular ‘interactive gin experience’, while Karl and Lindsay Bond’s acclaimed Forest Gin offers distillery tours at its farmhouse base in Macclesfeld Forest, where they forage their botanicals.
Meanwhile, whisky is at the centre of a new venture, The Blend, on Quay Street inside The Loft events space. Its originators, Chivas Regal, offer an hour-long ‘Art of Blending Session’ where you create a 200ml bottle of your own bespoke whisky.
Let’s not leave rum out of the equation. Venues such as The Liars Club and Revolucion de Cuba have a huge offering of this cane-sugar fuelled spirit. ToM recently checked out the rum list at Turtle Bay. The menu is split up into four categories – Good, Better, Best and Fabulous. Rum lovers can also order a Rum Sharing Board from £14.50 and sample four different rums of their choice.
Main picture courtesy of SSA Architects