The owners of a popular gin bar in Bridgend, Nolton Corner, have taken their passion for gin to a new level, by building Bridgend’s first microdistillery.
The product, Bont Gin is a crisp, citrusy and balanced, small batch, London Dry – and best of all, visitors to the bar can see the copper distillery in all it’s glory, and the bar has a team of experts on hand to talk you through a tasting of Bont Gin – as well as their extensive selection of gins from across the globe.
Director and gin enthusiast Oliver Ladbrooke-Davies explains:
“It’s obvious to anyone who visits Nolton Corner that we are gin connoisseurs, so we wanted to take it to the next level. The name, Bont or Pont), meaning bridge in Welsh, is a nod to our location and our connections with the town, but the inspiration and history behind the gin and our unique bottles goes back a lot further.
“After being founded by brothers in 1947, the hot summers of the 50s & 60s gave Bridgend Creamery a headache as the shelf-life of milk would naturally shorten. However, this gave them the idea to diversify. They adapted their bottling plant to produce an orange juice drink alongside milk, then sold it via their electric floats. The juice was an enormous success and rivalled dairy sales for many years.
“The zesty orange flavour profile of Bont Gin and our recommendation of a slice of fresh orange as garnish is homage to that once famous pure orange juice. The cow on our label, our white bottle and the recyclability of it is a tribute to the creamery, it’s bottling plant and the durable, iconic British milk bottle.”
Made using a split top, rotating column copper alembic (imported from Portugal), Oliver’s fellow Director Lloyd Thomas says the secret recipe includes cassia bark, fresh orange peel and rosemary, amongst other things. He explains:
“We initially macerate for 22 hours, then we distill via vapour infusion for some of the more delicate flavours. We never add anything after distillation because Bont is Llundain Sych (London Dry, meaning all flavouring and botanicals are added during or before the distillation process and never afterwards. Likewise, to ensure Bont is of the highest quality we never use any distillates below 75%.”
The result is a premium, boutique gin that is already a hit with customers, and will be able to buy for both licensed trade and private customers from early December – the company has an enviable amount of pre-orders already and expects sales to soar.
To learn more, visit: https://www.noltoncorner.com/bontgin/
This article first appeared on News from Wales
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