How time flies when you’re having fun! This month on the 25th July we are celebrating our 3rd anniversary of Exmoor Distillery. We have achieved a lot in the past 3 years and grown rapidly in the last year alone.
We want to share with you our journey so far as without your support we wouldn’t be where we are today.
How it started
John and Nicola have a real passion for gin and spirits but found none that really stepped up to the mark, so they decided to embark on the adventure of producing their own premium spirits, hey presto Exmoor Distillery was born!
In July 2018 they bought their first iStill and set it up in what seemed like a massive space at the time. They thought they had well and truly made it! Filling their one and only tank and releasing their first spirit, Northmoor Gin.
Northmoor Gin
Keeping it close to home, Northmoor Gin is named after the road John and Nicola live on in Dulverton. A London Dry style gin, it’s a premium spirit that is light on the lips and incredibly smooth. At 44% vol we call it our ‘classic’.
Selling right across Exmoor in shops, pubs and at events traction started to pick up as customers tasted the moorish premium spirit.
Things were getting serious…
Taking production to new heights, a mezzanine floor was added to the distillery along with an all important office – Nicolas HQ for our online orders! Online orders were going well and a new distillery shop/ bar allowed locals to come in and buy direct too.
The original 100ltr iStill which seemed massive at first, suddenly didn’t seem so big! We bought a new 500ltr iStill which allowed us to increase our production and gave us high tech accuracy to produce a range of high quality spirits.
Things weren’t just getting bigger but they’re getting stronger too.
After lots of sampling, in 2019 we released our Northmoor Navy Strength Gin. A 57% vol spirit using carefully selected botanicals to complement the higher alcohol percentage. With botanicals such as liquorice and orange, this spirit is slightly sweeter than our Northmoor Classic and is a full bodied and smooth to sip. Find out more about our Northmoor Navy Strength Gin HERE.
World Class Spirits
As the world was coming to halt in March 2020, a jury of prestigious judges were setting down to judge the World Spirits Competition in San Francisco. Both our Northmoor Gin and Northmoor Navy Strength came away victorious winning a Double Gold and Gold! As a small family run business in rural Exmoor, we are very proud of this achievement to have World class spirits made on Exmoor. Read all about what makes our spirits gold winners in our World Spirits Competition Blog.
It’s not all plain sailing…
We can all agree that 2020 was a tough year for many not just nationally but right across the globe. At the request of the county council, we reconfigured part of our distillery to produce hand sanitiser for the front line services and delivered to businesses right across Exmoor. We’re proud to have been able to help where we can. We’re still providing the community with Hand sanitiser and have our Family Sanitiser Kit available for online order.
Our team has grown in the last year.
From a team of just Nicola and John, to a team of 5! Employing local staff, we’ve expanded our team in an aim to keep everything we do in house. With Ben’s background in finance and sales and Chloe’s background in Graphic Design, we do all our design, social media and advertising in house while also being out on the road distributing and expanding our reach. We have the wonderful Banger too, who helps with production, bottling up our spirits to regimented precison for you to enjoy.
A Third Gin!
In January we released our third gin- Northmoor Navy Reserve. At 57% vol this gin uses a slightly different recipe to our Navy Strength Gin. It is then reseted in ex-bourbon barrels for a minimum of 6 months, where the charred interior infuses into the spirit giving it a unique colour and flavour. Read our Navy Reserve blog post to find out more about the process, flavours and suitable pairings.
After being released for just 3 months this unique gin went on to win Silver at the London Spirits Competition making all of our Northmoor Gin range award winning spirits.
The fermentation tank arrives!
After much anticipation, the arrival of our 2,500 litre fermentation tank completes our distillery set up. Busting at the seams, we are now a far cry from starting out with a single 100Litre iStill in the middle of the room. A new section of mezzanine flooring allowed us to create easy access to our fermentation tank and kick started us into producing our first batch of rums.
Our first Blackmoor Rums Released
Last month (June 2021) we released not one but TWO rums! One of very few rums made from scratch in the UK, we ferment the highest grade molasses and then use a combination of pot and column distillation techniques to achieve an incredibly smooth and flavourful spirit. Our Blackmoor Silver Rum is a traditional white rum and makes a great base for pairing with cola or ginger beer or as a mixer in any suitable cocktail.
Using our white rum as a base we infuse the spirit with carefully selected spices to create our Blackmoor Spiced Rum. Looking as good as it tastes, the spices make for a golden hue! Read more about our rums HERE.
Loyal Customers.
Taking a moment to reflect on the last 3 years, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve any of it if it wasn’t for our customers support. A massive thank you to everyone who has bought our products, visited our distillery shop and stocked us in your pub or shop. It means a lot to us that you like our spirits as much as we do- albeit there might be a lot of tipsy people on Exmoor now!
The next 3 years…
Over the past few months we have been getting busier and busier, testing, creating and planning more products for future release while keeping up with day to day orders.
We are soon to be releasing a Vodka in September so be sure to follow us on social media or sign up to our newsletter for more information ahead of its release.
We have started to lay down the barrels for an Aged Rum which will leave you in anticipation as it won’t be ready for another 3 years!!
Our Distillery Now…
