The Suffolk coast is set to become a destination for gin lovers, after a local drinks brand opened up a new distillery.
Fishers Gin, based in Aldeburgh, has recently opened the doors of its brand new distillery to tours from the public.
Production was based at Adnams in Southwold but has now moved to the Aldeburgh sea front with its new distillery overlooking the beach.
The company submitted its initial plans for the distillery back in February with the venue being ready to take guests in March.
Sadly the coronavirus pushed things back a bit and delayed the opening.
“We were ready to open in March,” said owner Andrew Heald.
“We ended up working on the gin instead.”
For Mr Heald, it was always important to be able to make the move to Aldeburgh despite whatever delays the virus posed.
“I really wanted to have a base in Aldeburgh,” said Mr Heald.
MORE: Gin company wants to be ‘as synonymous with Aldeburgh as Adnams is with Southwold’
“Somewhere, where we could make the gin.
“Aldeburgh is where my family have lived for quite a while.”
Now it is open the company is able to offer tours of the distillery for people to find out more about how its product is made and how the local area influences the final result.
In the 90 minute session gin fans are given a virtual tour of the Alde and Ore Estuary, which was developed by the team during lockdown.
This is followed by a botanical tea making experience where customers make what Mr Heald describes as a non alcoholic gin.
A tour of the distillery follows with a tasting of gins and seasonal cocktails to finish.
This is just the first of the tours that the company hopes to be able to offer guests with more already in development.
“It’s seasonal,” said Mr Heald.
“We would like people to be able to do a tour three times a year.”
In the future, the business is looking at a new bottling space close to Snape and hopes to be able to offer different tours that will also encompass this area of the business as well.
All current tours have restrictions to ensure that guests remain socially distanced.
This weekend the distillery is hosting an food and drink festival open event for people to come down and see the new distillery.
The distillery’s bar and shop will be open this weekend between 11am and 8pm.
MORE: Guided tours of new Suffolk gin distillery get go-ahead
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