Discover Talland Bay

Introducing Talland Bay Hotel’s own blend gin

There has been something exciting brewing in Cornwall. Or to be more exact, distilling: Talland Bay No.1 gin

One could argue that Cornwall is already rife with quality, craft gins…Tarquin’s, Curio, The Wrecking Coast, Elemental…But as you might expect from a hotel as singular as Talland Bay Hotel – with an impressive selection of 100-plus gins behind the bar – this is something a little distinctive.

Because, over and above the ingredients themselves, hand-picked in the hotel’s sub-tropical gardens, the process itself is born from a unique collaboration: this is the first time that a hotel in Cornwall (possibly even the UK) has collaborated with a ‘single estate’ distillery to blend its own gin. And it’s no accident that the distillery in question is Cornwall’s first plough to bottle gin distillery.

Now guests can truly enjoy a taste of Talland Bay, as well as visit the distillery where the gin is made. So how did this come to fruition and what exactly has been involved in this bold undertaking?

 

The distillery

When the Talland Bay Hotel management team first met Steve Dustow and heard about his plans to build a distillery on the fifth-generation family farm they immediately knew that the hotel had to be involved in producing its own gin.

From that first meeting it took another eleven months for work on the new Colwith Farm Distillery to be completed, the realisation of a long-held dream for Steve of bringing the whole gin-making process from ‘plough to bottle’ under one roof on the family potato farm.

Frequent visits to the facility and meetings with Steve at the hotel ensued, with discussions around producing a unique blend to mirror the unrivalled setting and ambience of Talland Bay Hotel.

 

The botanicals

Led by General Manager, Jack Ashby-Wright and including the hotel’s restaurant supervisor and cocktail queen, Kyra Varney, the team had a clear vision of the ingredients that would be involved in recreating ‘the taste’ of Talland Bay Hotel in a bottle. Even taking samples of the hotel’s iconic pine trees to the distillery.

This pine is mixed with more botanicals from the hotel’s gardens – rose petals and mint – and blended with other ingredients inspired by the Mediterranean-style setting, including coriander, cinnamon and angelica.

 

The process

Once the Talland Bay ingredients had travelled the short distance to the distillery at Lanlivery they were blended in a traditional copper still with a base spirit made on site.

Three different bases were sampled, wheat, apple and potato. The potato was the clear winner; the next trick was hitting just the right notes of pine and mint.

Five different batches were made before the team decided they were happy with the taste.

 

The gin

The resulting gin has now been bottled, labelled and returned to Talland Bay Hotel. Where it’s best enjoyed overlooking the ocean. Alternatively, guests will be able to buy a bottle to take home and savour the unparalleled taste of Talland Bay. Give us a call to receive a bottle by post.