Gin will help Bard celebrations go with a swing

A NEW gin is being launched in south Warwickshire to mark this year’s 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare.

The gin — called 1616 — will be released by the Stourton-based Cotswold Distilling Company on 23rd April, the date on which he died 400 years ago, which was also his 52nd birthday.

The distillery, which was recently awarded World’s Best London Dry Gin at the 2016 World Gin Awards for its Cotswolds Dry Gin, based this new spirit on the 17th century Dutch-style Genever which was the precursor of gin as it is known today.

Daniel Szor, the founder and chief executive of the distillery, told the Herald this week: “The 1616 Gin represents several gin firsts for us. It is made primarily with our own malt whisky spirit, rather than neutral grain spirit, the base used for most gins.

“It is triple-distilled with juniper and other select period botanicals and then barrel-aged in the same American oak ex-red wine casks we use to make Cotswolds Single Malt Whisky. It is gin as would have been made in the time of Shakespeare.”

The 1616 gin features a quote and label design inspired by Shakespeare.

The quote, from Act I Scene 2 of The Tempest, is: “Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”

It will have an initial limited run of only 2,000 bottles, which will be on sale at the distillery’s on-site shop and via its website as well as through select local establishments. It will also see a London launch later this year at Selfridge’s as part of the store’s planned Shakespeare-themed celebrations.

The Cotswolds Distilling Company was founded in 2014 in Stourton, in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, its Cotswolds Dry Gin has been on sale since September 2014 and has so far won several national and international awards.

Its Single Malt Whisky will be released in October 2017.