Gin tour

I visited Plymouth on this rather wet and breezy day for a tour of the gin distillery with a small group of friends.  It was a fascinating tour that took place in a medieval building that dated from the 1400s.  They had been distilling gin from here since 1893 making it the oldest gin distillery.  We were not able to take any photos in the distillery due to heath and safety reasons (ie the alcohol vapours) but I have included one taken through the glass in extras and you can just make out the still in the rear on the right hand side.  We sampled the gin in the form it was originally intended to be drunk, that is just diluted with water, no ice.  It was an interesting flavour you could easily taste the botanicals and it had a naturally sweet taste.  We were invited to smell the various botanicals and also had a small sample of the sloe gin they produce, but not the extra strong navy strength one.  Apparently it was made extra strong for the navy so that when at sea should it become accidentally spilt with the gunpowder it would still be flammable, well that's the story anyway.  The tour finished with a  trip to the bar where we all had a gin and tonic with ice and lemon, very nice.

We then finished with a very nice meal before a short walk around the Barbican area before catching the train back home.