New gin on the block takes £250,000

The brand of dry Yorkshire gin, which was first established in 2013, is now stocked by more than 70 companies nationally, including Harvey Nichols, Mason told FoodManufacture.co.uk.

“I started with a £5,000 investment in 2012 and then put in another £50,000, it’s quite cash hungry and I expect to invest more in the near future,” ​said Mason.

Four people, including Mason and his wife, are employed by the company, which has just taken on a master distiller who will work one day a week, he added.

1,500 bottles a month ​

More than 1,500 bottles a month had been sold by the Bedale-based company over the summer period, he claimed.

Although the business has grown considerably over the past year, it was never Mason’s intention to create his own gin business, but his love of the spirit gave him the opportunity to do so, he explained.

“In a nutshell, I started a Facebook page for me and my friends to share pictures of us drinking gin and tonic on a Friday,” ​said Mason.

The ‘Gin and Tonic Friday’​ Facebook page was launched three years ago and amassed nearly 14,000 followers.

His healthy following led gin brands big and small to send their products to Mason to taste and feature on his page.

‘Others were very poor’​

“Some of the products ​[I was sent] were great, but others were very poor and that’s what spurred me to create my own gin,” ​said Mason.

At first, Mason contracted out the distillation of his gin, which he created with a subtler juniper flavour than standard gin to allow the flavour of the other botanicals to be more prominent, he added.

In February this year, the company finally bought its own second-hand 300 litre copper still from a European supplier.

“It took four months to get it up and running, although we had intended to do it straightaway, but we had time issues and had to end our business with the contract distiller,” ​he said.

There were also plans to produce three limited edition gins in 2015, which would include a lavender-infused gin, a tea-infused gin and a juniper berry heavy-infused gin.

Meanwhile, the gin major Bombay Sapphire, which is owned by the spirit giant Bacardi, launched its first distillery last month.

Click here to see an exclusive picture gallery​ of Bombay Sapphire’s new Laverstoke distillery in Hampshire.

For an interview with Nik Fordham, the company’s first master distiller, see the November issue of Food Manufacture ​​by subscribing.