Martin’s Black Country gin palace is a winner
The industrial heart of the Black Country may not seem an obvious Mecca for gin connoisseurs.
But an award-winning gin is putting the Langley Distillery, in Warley, on the map.
At the prestigious International Spirits Challenge, Martin Miller Westbourne Gin and Martin Miller Ten Anniversary Bottle were both awarded a coveted gold medal. The only other gin in the competition to earn gold was Tanqueray no.Ten.
It’s not as if the distillery is new to this gin-making business, however. London Dry Gin has been produced here for well over a hundred years and the distillery’s products sit unassumingly behind many well-known labels.
The winning tipples are the result of entrepreneur Martin Miller’s dream of creating a distinctive luxury gin that is smooth enough to be drunk on its own. He puts its success down to three things.
First the unique 100-year-old copper still – called Angela! Next, it’s the secret mix of ‘botanicals’, the blend of juniper, orange and lemon peel, coriander, licorice, cinnamon, cassia and nutmeg, angelica and orris root, that gives the gin its singular personality.
And finally, although this does sound a bit far-fetched, the resulting high-strength spirit is taken all the way to Iceland, where it is mixed with the “cleanest and purest water on the planet”, before being bottled and brought back.
Still, you can’t argue with gold medals. Martin Miller gin (available at Selfridges, Majestic and Oddbins) is as good a way as any to toast the fact that the Black Country is still responsible for world-beating products.
Martin Miller’s 10th Anniversary is currently not available in the United Kingdom but Westbourne Strength is at Harrods, TheDrinkShop.com and TheWhiskyExchange.com at £27.
* Whitley Neil is another luxury brand of gin created at Langley that is not afraid to admit that it comes from the Black Country!
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