The process

Our stills at Langley Distillery are some of the oldest working copper gin stills in the UK, some of them dating back to the early 1800s. We have a variety of sizes from 300L – 15,000L. We produce our gins using tradition methods. The key to London Dry Gin distillation is the expert skills and finest ingredients. We use the highest quality neutral alcohol and botanicals to create our award-winning gins.

The botanicals contain essential oils; it is the extraction of the essential oils in the presence of alcohol that gives gin its unique flavour, this is where our distillation process begins.

The botanicals are carefully weighed out and added to the still, along with a charge of ethanol and water solution. The still lid is then shut and the steam jacket switched on to allow the gentle warming of the still. This warming process allows the botanicals to begin releasing their oils for distillation; this process of maceration continues over night.

The following morning, once the maceration has completed, we start heating the still again, this time to higher temperatures making the charge boil. The boiling process begins to turn the liquid into vapour which rises to the swan neck and water-cooled condenser, turning the vapour back into liquid. The distillation is separated out into three parts; heads, hearts and tails. It is only the heart section that we use in our gin-making process; this liquid holds the most subtle and refined of the aromas and flavours given off during the distillation.

The concentrate produced is between 78%-82% ABV and cannot be used alone to make gin. We blend the concentrate with neutral alcohol, to create high strength gin that is reduced with water to bottling strength. The result is a high quality award-winning distilled London Dry Gin for your brand.