It’s synonymous with the Caribbean, but some extraordinary versions of this tropical tipple are being made in East Anglia, finds Emma Hughes
IF Ian Fleming’s Q had decided to go into the spirits business, he might have approached it a bit like Dr John Walters. ‘I was listening to Radio 4 and they were going on about the joys of eaux de vie, spirits made from distilling wild-fruit wine,’ the former Oxford biochemist explains. ‘At the end, the presenter said “Of course, you can’t do this in the UK—it’s illegal.” I thought, that sounds like rubbish.’
It was 2009 and Dr Walters, who had just sold his business, was looking for a new outlet for his scientific know-how. Having confirmed that it was perfectly legal to own a still of up to four litres (just under a gallon) in size for personal use, he built himself one in a shed. Then, using the grapes growing up his house in Dullingham, Cambridgeshire, he made cognac. The results were so impressive that, eventually, he decided to go full-time.
Having filled out all the relevant paperwork and expanded his operation, Dr Walters found his new venture, English Spirit, ‘knocking out about 120 bottles a week, which was actually quite hard work’. His small team started making vodka and gin from East Anglian sugarbeet, but, at that stage, there weren’t that many vodka and gin drinkers. ‘We needed to broaden the portfolio and I suddenly thought why is nobody doing rum?’
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 24, 2019-Ausgabe von Country Life UK.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 24, 2019-Ausgabe von Country Life UK.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Give it some stick
Galloping through the imagination, competitive hobby-horsing is a gymnastic sport on the rise in Britain, discovers Sybilla Hart
Paper escapes
Steven King selects his best travel books of 2024
For love, not money
This year may have marked the end of brag-art’, bought merely to show off one’s wealth. It’s time for a return to looking for connoisseurship, beauty and taste
Mary I: more bruised than bloody
Cast as a sanguinary tyrant, our first Queen Regnant may not deserve her brutal reputation, believes Geoffrey Munn
A love supreme
Art brought together 19th-century Norwich couple Joseph and Emily Stannard, who shared a passion for painting, but their destiny would be dramatically different
Private views
One of the best ways-often the only way-to visit the finest privately owned gardens in the country is by joining an exclusive tour. Non Morris does exactly that
Shhhhhh...
THERE is great delight to be had poring over the front pages of COUNTRY LIFE each week, dreaming of what life would be like in a Scottish castle (so reasonably priced, but do bear in mind the midges) or a townhouse in London’s Eaton Square (worth a king’s ransom, but, oh dear, the traffic) or perhaps that cottage in the Cotswolds (if you don’t mind standing next to Hollywood A-listers in the queue at Daylesford). The estate agent’s particulars will give you details of acreage, proximity to schools and railway stations, but never—no, never—an indication of noise levels.
Mission impossible
Rubble and ruin were all that remained of the early-19th-century Villa Frere and its gardens, planted by the English diplomat John Hookham Frere, until a group of dedicated volunteers came to its rescue. Josephine Tyndale-Biscoe tells the story
When a perfect storm hits
Weather, wars, elections and financial uncertainty all conspired against high-end house sales this year, but there were still some spectacular deals
Give the dog a bone
Man's best friend still needs to eat like its Lupus forebears, believes Jonathan Self, when it's not guarding food, greeting us or destroying our upholstery, of course
