Yes, that’s right all you gin drinking folk in Henley, there’s a new distillery in town, aptly named The Henley Distillery.

We spoke to Jacob Wilson, who after several years of planning, is now realising his dream of starting his own distillery in his home town of Henley-on-Thames. Having found the right site in Shiplake, an amazing Grade II listed threshing barn dating back to 1776, the transformation and renovation has begun. The bespoke stills, hand made in Portugal, will be arriving soon, and The Henley Distillery hope to launch before the end of June.

“The Henley Distillery is a family run, traditional style, craft distillery. We use 300L Copper Alembic Stills, which allow us full, hands on, control over the distillation process. Our gin will not be chill-filtered so will retain all of the aromas and oils from the botanicals that give the gin its distinctive and rounded flavour. The gin will be distilled using traditional methods, and every bottle will be hand-filled, labelled and sealed to create a truly artisan product.

The Henley Distillery will also be one of only a handful of distilleries in the UK that is owned and run by a Master Distiller.

Though initially the distillery will be exclusively making gin, there are plans to produce other spirits in the future. We’d like to make the distillery as accessible as possible. We will have a small shop at the distillery and we would love people to pop in once we are up and running.

Whilst in essence the science of gin distillation requires only pure alcohol, copper, flame and botanicals, the art of distillation requires much more: knowledge, innovation, determination and a very keen palate. We believe much remains uncharted in the craft of making gin – new aging techniques, new flavours and ultimately, entirely new experiences for those who drink it.”

Image: Jacob Wilson

Jacob’s passion for gin began at University where, alongside studying Mechanical Engineering, he started his own pop-up cocktail bar, hiring out to large events including weddings and has also designed and run distilleries of various sizes ranging from 5,000 bottles per year, to 5 million bottles. Within a few years he became one of the youngest Master Distillers in the UK. Jacob has brought over 20 different artisan spirits to market, winning multiple awards.

He also created ‘Distillery Consultants Ltd’ which gives assistance to start-ups and more established operations. This work involves recipe creation, R&D, Distillery set-up, Distillery management, production streamlining, training and HMRC liaison.

Jacob was born and raised in Henley and his family has been in Henley for many generations. His parents, Alan and Terry, both run their own local artisan businesses and they each have a passion for producing quality hand-crafted products with a strong design element.

Henley is, for certain, a premuim town with premium brands and businesses that are bourne for the love and passion for their product or service and the desire to call Henley-on-Thames their home and we are sure that this is just the beginning of great things for The Henley Distillery.

We can’t wait to taste the gin.

To keep up to date with The Henley Distillery follow them on Instagram @thehenleydistillery