Gin School sessions are three hours long. Guests can also enjoy 10% off all Salcombe Distilling Co. products in their retail store on their visit. It really is a beautifully captivating gin, with a rose gold hue to the colour of the liquid. On the nose, both the sweet port and the woody barrel are obvious to discern, bringing a forest fruit sensation on top of what is familiar Conker Gin territory (summer meadows and soft sweetness). In our pursuit of new and exciting spirits, we've brought together two of our favourite tipples to create a gin like no other. Though a little craggy around the edges now, Holloway was a fresh face in the drinks industry when Conker Gin launched. Prior to starting the distillery he worked as a chartered surveyor, a job in which days stretched on for weeks and weeks into years. When he hit 29, he had what he calls “an early midlife crisis,” and decided to get out of there, deciding, quite suddenly, that he’d be “bitterly disappointed if I retire or die doing what I currently do for a living.”

While it’s a fairly traditional flavour sipped neat, classicism goes out of the window once tonic is introduced. Dilution brings the jammy elderberries stampeding to the fore, with the fruits somersaulting across the tongue like a troupe of marionettes. It’s stunning, especially when served with orange peel. The resulting distillate is at a strength of 80% ABV. The hearts cut is left to sit for two weeks before Holloway blends it to 40% bottling strength with New Forest spring water. Taste - The dry juniper and herbaceous freshness of the Dorset Dry is calmed and sweetened by a vanilla oak wood softness, subtle red berry and winter spice. This gin deserves nothing less than to be sipped over a few big chunks of ice in your favourite tumbler. Add tonic to that equation and you have one of the tastiest G&Ts we've ever encountered. Everything you love in a gin, met with the sweet comfort of port and the intrigue of the oak barrel.For those not in the know, a conker is the seed of a horse chestnut tree. In the British countryside, school children are known to thread string through these seeds in autumn when they drop from the trees and engage in vicious battles, wherein they smash each others prized floor-treasure to pieces. Only one conker will emerge victorious, its owner grinning savagely through a face smeared with the entrails of lesser seeds. The drink sits well when sipped on ice, but the very nature of its evenly-spread botanical mix means that its one you can play with. The lime can be dressed up in a G&T with a lime peel, while the gorse flower sweetness could be accentuated by adding in some Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic.

The internet has been absolutely crucial to us. Simply put, Conker wouldn’t have happened without it, and in the early days that was the only marketing we could afford. We’ve coined the phrase ‘Transparency is our marketing’, meaning that all we do is show people what we do day to day, rather than cooking up some marketing around a boardroom table. We simply use our social media channels to give a little window into the life of a Conkerer! Once the business was starting to grow, we took on a PR firm which put Conker in most of the mainstream media, which of course had a big impact. Get ready to discover The Spirit of Manchester Distillery, a state-of-the-art distillery in the heart of the city. There are four different types of gin: London dry gin, old Tom, Plymouth and navy strength gin. Is gin gluten-free? At their outstanding distilling laboratory, you can take charge of a beautiful mini copper pot still to develop and distill your very own bottle of gin or rum to take home with you. Their distillery tours have been awarded TripAdvisor’s #1 Thing to Do in Manchester so don’t just take our word for it!If you think about it, the only thing stopping you from starting something new is fear. We place such an incredible amount of importance on other people’s perception of ourselves that we all too often take the safe road. Taking the plunge really can pay off – Conker Spirit is a testament to this. You'll learn how they create their award-winning spirits; from the selection and distillation of botanicals, to the intricate field-to-glass journey of the ethically sourced speciality coffees of their famous Conker Coffee Liqueur. With Conker Spirit Dorset Dry Gin Holloway aimed to create a well-balanced gin, with no botanical much more dominant than any other. He’s achieved this well, with the flavours meld and intertwine delicately. To the nose, it’s a cacophony, with everything rushing forwards at once and shouting to be heard. Summery and sweet meadow-like aromas underpin the experience, with citrus and a soft, floral sweetness holding the juniper in place. Founded in 2016 by owner and Master Distiller Neil Harrison, Nelson’s is a small-batch distiller based in the picturesque Staffordshire countryside and producers of the special edition Gluggle Jug Gin, Craft Gin Club’s Gin of the Month in June 2019.