Shakespeare Distillery – Introduction

Shakespeare Distillery is Stratford’s only working distillery and specialises in carbon-neutral spirit production, with beautifully handcrafted gin and rum all made entirely on-site!

With the Tudor period as their inspiration, they use forgotten ingredients from this time to capture the essence of Shakespearean Britain. By using carbon-neutral spirit production, Shakespeare Distillery also contributes immensely to a sustainable future. By sourcing their ingredients locally, they are not only supporting their local community but also preserving the natural environment of Stratford and its surrounding areas.

Q & A

What is your brand’s mission?

To produce sustainable and beautifully complex spirits in small, handcrafted batches.

What are your key brand values?

Quality, Innovation and Sustainability.

What is your brand’s story?

Founder and head distiller, Simon, spent two years creating Stratford Dry Gin from his own small copper still at home. Inspired by his Warwickshire location and love of history, Shakespeare Distillery was born in 2015 using traditional Tudor period ingredients and giving them a fresh twist to create modern spirits.

Stratford Dry Gin is a strong, herbal style gin inspired by the Tudor knot garden and uses fragrant botanicas such as rose, lemon balm, rosemary and English lovage. We use our Stratford Dry as the base for our fruit gins, all made with real fruit which was highly prized in Tudor England such as mulberries, quinces and rhubarb. Our Mulberry Gin Liqueur was inspired by the mulberry trees planted in the gardens of Shakespeare’s home ‘New Place’ in Stratford.

After successfully distilling gin for five years our passion for experimenting led us to create Jester Rum in 2021. Fermented and double distilled, it is made from scratch right here at our distillery, making it 100% British rum.  The name is inspired by the famous sculpture of a Jester which sits just yards from Shakespeare’s Birthplace.

Since then, we have continued to experiment with different flavours to create delicious new spirits, which we regularly release as special editions in limited quantities. Examples of these include Limoncello, Jubilee Gin, King’s Coronation Gin and Citrus Vodka. We are also excited be launching the first of a series of Barrel-Aged Rums later this year.

What makes your brand stand out against similar brands?

We are a small, family run business who take great pride in the fact we do everything ourselves from recipe development

right through to distilling, bottling and dispatching, all from the distillery premises in Stratford upon Avon. No part of our process is outsourced. We are also very proud to be one of the few carbon neutral distilleries in the UK.

Is there anything you would like to mention about your brand?

In 2019, we opened our award-winning visitor centre at the distillery where we host distillery tours and gin schools. In the summer, we also take to the River Avon and run our popular gin tasting cruises in partnership with Avon Boating.

We have a shop in the heart of town, above which is Judith’s School of Spirits, where we offer rum schools, cocktail masterclasses and gin tasting experiences. It’s called ‘Judith’s’ because it was once the home of Shakespeare’s younger daughter, Judith and her husband, Thomas. He was a vintner, selling wines and spirits, so we think the family would have approved of us.

Our small team has expanded significantly in recent years, as has our range of spirits, experiences and premises. We are proud of that growth but we remain an independent family business, small enough to do everything within our own distillery, passionate about what we do and patient enough to create beautifully complex spirits.

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