A GIn distillery with its own restaurant and bar – we like the sound of that. Three Little Words, a new venture from Manchester Gin will launch on Sunday, September 15 in six Grade II listed brick arches on Watson Street that are also home to the brand's Spirit of Manchester Distillery.
It caps a remarkable three years for founders Seb Heeley and Jennie Wiggins, who distilled their first bottle in their Chorlton house, later moving production to a railway arch (there’s a theme developing here). These days they produce over 80,000 bottles a year with a core range made up of five flavours: Signature, Raspberry Infused, Wild Spirit, Overboard and Haçienda.
Visitors will be able to watch these being distilled in action and there will also be tours of the distillery and masterclasses to create your own personal blend of gin. Exciting enough, but it is Three Little Words that captures our imagination – a 70 cover contemporary restaurant and 40 cover premium cocktail bar
Every new spirits venture these days seems to lean on a theme and the cocktails here are inspired by Love. The men moves through Lust, Rapture, Devotion, Eternity and ends with Ultimatum, creating flavours that evoke every stage of love: from excitement and freshness, through to darker, heavier flavours – all created using premium spirits.
The botanicals that define the gins will also inspire seasonal dishes on the restaurant menu, featuring small and large plates devised by development chef Jimmy Carr. We love the look of the scallop dish, above.
You may remember his impressive tenure at Evelyn’s in the Northern Quarter and he retains the same ethos: “At Three Little Words, we want fresh flavours to come through in all of our dishes. As much as possible, all of our ingredients are locally sourced, and being in a city with such a rich culture and history, we’ve aimed to incorporate this into our varied menu.”
Master Distiller Seb said: “This is the culmination of a life ambition for Jen and I. From the very first day we met, we talked about our dreams to open our own bar, so this feels like a huge milestone for us! We couldn’t have started this venture without the support of Manchester, so to be able to create 45 jobs and give something back to this amazing city means the world to us.”
And a rival city centre gin distiller?
AUTUMN is the target time for the launch of Thomas Dakin’s distillery, bar and immersive visitor experience inside Lloyd House on Lloyd Street, next to the Nag’s Head. They expect to attract 70,000 visitors a year. Work has been underway since January.
Three Little Words will officially open on Sunday, September 15. The bar and restaurant will be open daily from 10am, until 12am Sun-Thu and 1am Fri-Sat.
