Plymouth Gin Distillery

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The Plymouth Gin Distillery.

The Plymouth Gin Distillery was a significant manufacturer of Gin in the UK. Plymouth Gin is still made here and in recent years there has been an increase in the popularity of the distinctive sweeter and lighter but stronger Plymouth flavour as against the more usual London Dry Gin. Since 2005 the brand and premises have been owned by the Scandinavian group V&S who are better known for making Absolut Vodka.

The original distillery is still in Southside Street on the Barbican in Plymouth, (close to Plymouth Hoe) and is now a bar with bistro above, and much historical distillery equipment is on clear display behind acrylic glass screens. Local tradition has it that some of the 'Pilgrim Fathers' may have stayed here while the Mayflower was alongside in the harbour having been forced to put in for essential repairs before again setting sail to North America.

Gin, being a cheap alcoholic beverage, was originally bought by the poor and caused considerable social problems, illustrated and satirised by the engraving 'Gin Lane' by Hogarth in 1751. Ironically for Plymouth, just as the spirit given in quantity to mellow common seamen was Navy Rum, so the officers preferred Gin, which spread through the officers' messes and golf clubs of Empire. The cocktail 'Pink Gin' was claimed to have been invented as a means to get sailors to drink Angostura bitters in an attempt to curb the malnourishment that was rife on long voyages in those days. The world responsibilities and deployment of the British Royal Navy led to the renown, and wide consumption of the product.

Although sold in the distillery shop and sometimes the bigger hypermarkets, the brand is not obvious in its home town, being rarely seen in most off-licence alcohol shops and less still in local pubs and bars.

At tea time on 27th February 2008 the building was substantially damaged by a kitchen fire apparently starting in the bistro area.