Bombay Sapphire distillery opens its doors

The new Bombay Sapphire gin distillery in Hampshire has opened its doors to the public for the first time.

Award winning designer Thomas Heatherwick, famous for the 2012 London Olympic Cauldron, the Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010, and the New Bus for London, was behind the renovation and conversion of the historic Laverstoke Mill into a state of the art, environmentally sustainable gin distillery and visitor centre for Bombay Sapphire.

For more than 200 years, the mill produced high quality paper for the bank notes of England. The mill expanded with the growth of the British Empire. During Queen Victoria’s reign, it rose prominently and Laverstoke Mill began making bank notes for England’s newly acquired lands, including India. This heritage neatly connects the story of England, Laverstoke Mill, India and the 1761 British recipe for Bombay Sapphire.

Thomas’ design includes a number of unique glasshouses where the gin’s 10 botanicals – juniper, lemon peel, grains of paradise, coriander, cubeb berries, orris root, almonds, cassia bark, liquorice, and angelica – are grown and on display for public viewing.

3 October 2014 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor