Growing our own ingredients.
One reason the quality of our rum is superior is because we hand select all of the ingredients that go into it – meaning that we have full control over the flavour profile.
While we can’t grow sugarcane, we can grow botanicals.
Close to our distillery, there is a 19th century glasshouse and garden that presents us with an amazing opportunity to grow rare and unique botanicals, from scratch. The problem is that our botanical garden has seen better days. 100 years ago, it was a fully functioning kitchen garden – providing fresh produce to the estate. Our aspiration is to restore the garden to its former glory so that eventually, it will be home to a multitude of botanicals and fruits that we can use to create fresh, vibrant and natural British rums. We will practice responsible and sustainable cultivation, including using waste from the distillery to compost and irrigate the garden.This is a slow burn project – but we think something that is unique.
Don’t worry, we will be keeping you up to date as we rebuild and replant our botanicals over the next year, just keep an eye on this page to hear all our news.
One reason the quality of our rum is superior is because we hand select all of the ingredients that go into it – meaning that we have full control over the flavour profile. While we can’t grow sugarcane, we can grow botanicals. Close to our distillery, there is a 19th century glasshouse and garden that presents us with an amazing opportunity to grow rare and unique botanicals, from scratch. The problem is that our botanical garden has seen better days. 100 years ago, it was a fully functioning kitchen garden – providing fresh produce to the estate. Our aspiration is to restore the garden to its former glory so that eventually, it will be home to a multitude of botanicals and fruits that we can use to create fresh, vibrant and natural British rums. We will practice responsible and sustainable cultivation, including using waste from the distillery to compost and irrigate the garden.This is a slow burn project – but we think something that is unique.
Don’t worry, we will be keeping you up to date as we rebuild and replant our botanicals over the next year, just keep an eye on this page to hear all our news.
The lay of the land
About our Botanical Garden
While we can’t grow sugarcane on our estate, we can grow botanicals…
We are starting from scratch with our botanical garden. It was originally used as a kitchen garden – producing food for the people who lived in the house that was sited nearby. At one stage there was even a heating house – using wood burning stoves to pipe hot water round the greenhouse and garden. Tropical fruits were grown using this early form of central heating.
However the area has fallen into a state of serious dis-repair. Windows broken, wall collapsed, wells clogged. Nature has reclaimed a large part of the area. It’s going to be a gargantuan task. But we’ve never shied away from hard work.
We will be clearing a small portion of the garden for planting fruits and berries, to infuse in our rum next summer. Within the greenhouse, we have hopes and dreams of growing pineapples, but will probably start smaller than that. Over the winter, we are planning to grow sample seedlings of a wide range of British spices and herbs.
Our first job will be to clear the area, and add compost which we have developed using waste from the distillery. Once this area is cleared, we will then start planting in September / October.
We will update this page with more photos and videos of our progress.
Above is how it looks in its current state, below is a historical photo of the area in its pomp.
Watch this space…
