Sacred Microdistillery

Sacred Microdistillery is a microdistillery located in Highgate, London. It is unusual in that it distills its spirits by use of vacuum distillation, and thus distills at a lower temperature than traditional pot stills, which operate at atmospheric pressure. The microdistillery operates out of the back room of a residential house, with a vacuum plant situated in a wendy-house in the distiller's back garden.^[1]

Sacred Microdistillery, in Ian Hart's home in Highgate, North London.

History

Sacred Microdistillery was established in London in 2009; it is the only vacuum distillery in London.^[2] Sacred Microdistillery was launched by Ian Hart^[3] and Hilary Whitney, initially as a pure gin distillery, but this has now branched out into vodkas, such as Sacred London Dry Vodka, produced using the same process. Also now produced are three vermouths using English wine and an English alternative to Campari - Rosehip Cup. The distillery started on a small scale, and personally delivered stock to local bars and restaurants on London's tubes and buses.^[4]

Sacred Microdistillery is based on a residential street in North London.^[5] It distributes its products to many bars, restaurants and independent spirits merchants in London and worldwide.^[6] This includes Duke's Bar in St James's, London, where Ian Fleming invented the Vesper cocktail,^[7] and Gerry's of Old Compton Street.^[8]

Sacred Gin came first in its category in the 2009 Ginmasters competition,^[9] which is a blind tasting competition organised by The Spirits Business magazine. Subsequently, Sacred London Dry Vodka and Sacred Organic Vodka both won gold in the 2010 Global Vodka Masters competition, organised by the same publication. In 2010, Sacred Gin placed in the top three^[10] alongside Hendrick's and Tanqueray 10 gins in another blind tasting organised by Imbibe magazine.^[11] In 2013, Sacred Gin and Sacred Organic Gin each won Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Currently, Sacred produces 16 products, including gins, vodkas, vermouths, aperitifs and bottled cocktails.^[1]

Products

Sacred Microdistillery's spirits are produced in small batches of a few hundred bottles a time, distilled from English Grain Spirit. Each botanical is macerated in alcohol for 4–6 weeks and then distilled individually. These distillates are blended as the final part of the production process.^[12]

Sacred currently produces the following products,^[13] available in the UK and overseas:^[1]

London Dry Gin

• Sacred Gin, 40%. This is a London Dry Gin, made using 12 individually distilled botanicals, including juniper, fresh whole citrus fruits, green cardamom, and Boswellia Sacra (Hougary Frankincense), from which Sacred takes its name.^[14]
• Sacred Organic Gin, 43.8%. Another London Dry Gin, produced using organic English wheat spirit and 8 organically sourced botanicals.

Frankincense (Boswellia Sacra), from which Sacred takes its name

Botanical Gin

As each of Sacred's botanicals is distilled individually and then blended, it is possible to produce gins of a different blend ratio. This allowed Ian Hart to produce a range of 6 'botanical gins', in which one botanical is increased in the blend.

• Sacred Pink Grapefruit Gin, 43.8%. Made with a large amount of Spanish and Italian Pink Grapefruit.
• Sacred Juniper Gin, 43.8%. Produced with Tuscan Juniper berries.
• Sacred Coriander Gin, 43.8%. Using Coriander Seeds, a common botanical in gin.^[15]
• Sacred Cardamom Gin, 43.8%. Made with aromatic organic green Cardamom Pods from Guatemala.
• Sacred Orris Gin, 43.8%. With Orris Root, the root of the Iris plant. Orris has a floral and earthy flavour.^[16]
• Sacred Licorice Gin, 43.8%. Licorice Root is used in gin as a natural sweetener, and is traditionally used instead of sugar to make an Old Tom Gin.

Other Gin

• Sacred Christmas Pudding Gin, 40%. Made with juniper and real Christmas puddings, cooked to Ian's Great Aunt Nellie's recipe. Designed to be taken as a shot out of the freezer after Christmas lunch.^[17]

Vodka

• Sacred London Dry Vodka, 40%. A wheat vodka redistilled with 7 botanicals, similar in character to a gin, but with no juniper, coriander or citrus botanicals. Sacred holds the trademark for London Dry Vodka.^[18]
• Sacred Organic Vodka, 40%. A blend of English Organic Wheat Spirit and English Organic Rye Spirit.

Vermouth

• Sacred English Spiced Vermouth, 18%. A dark, 'rosso' style of vermouth made with English white wine from Gloucestershire. The wine is fortified and bittered with Wormwood, grown in the West Country for Sacred, and 23 other botanicals.
• Sacred English Amber Vermouth, 21.8%. A medium-sweet amber style vermouth, made with English white wine from Gloucestershire and 16 botanicals.
• Sacred English Dry Vermouth, 21.8%. An extra-dry vermouth, made with English white wine from Gloucestershire and 16 botanicals including thyme, intended for the Dry Martini cocktail, but also usable in other mixed drinks.^[19]

Aperitifs

• Sacred Rosehip Cup, 18%. A bittersweet liqueur, made with rosehips, gentian root and 25 other botanicals. This liqueur was originally made for the Negroni cocktail, and can be used as an English alternative to Campari.

Bottled Cocktails

• Sacred Bottle-Aged Negroni, 26.8%. Made with equal parts of Sacred Gin, Sacred Rosehip Cup and Sacred English Spiced Vermouth, conditioned in the bottle. The back label is endorsed with a quote from Sir Kingsley Amis: "This is a fine invention. It has the power, rare with drinks and indeed with anything else, of cheering you up."

References

External links

• Sacred Website
• Sacred Facebook Page
• Sacred Twitter Account (Ian Hart)
• Sacred Twitter Account (Hilary Whitney)
• Sacred Twitter Account (Rachel Knowles)
• Sacred Twitter Account (Alexander Jeffreys)
• Sacred Instagram Account