Meet the incredible couple behind our amazing June 2020 Gin of the Month, Dartmouth English Gin, which our members can find in their June 2020 Gin of the Month box!
When Caroline and Lance Whitehead moved to a derelict farm near Dartmouth, they were looking for a peaceful life by the sea. What they found were parallel passions and a new way of living in their ancestral home. Who could have imagined that it would lead to the creation of this fantastic gin? Here’s their story!
Our June 2020 Gin of the Month:
Dartmouth English Gin
Distilled in Devon
45% ABV
Botanicals:
Juniper, Coriander, Angelica, Liquorice, Cardamom, Cassia Bark, Cubeb Pepper, Grains of Paradise, Lavender, Orris Root, Rose Petals, Kaffir Lime Leaf, Rosemary, Sweet Orange, Lemon, Grapefruit, Scots Pine Needles.
Tasting Notes:
A fresh and classic gin. Kaffir lime leaf is bright on the nose, while juniper and coriander elevate the pine notes on the mid-palate. A long, delicious finish leaves subtle spiced notes.
The Spirit of Home
Lance behind the bar
From shipwrights to master mariners to Brixham trawlermen, Lance Whitehead and his wife Caroline are both descended from a long line of Devon seafarers. So when the time came for the couple to find their forever home, the siren call of England’s southern coast drew them to Devon.
After a lifetime of adventure, Lance made his return to Dartmouth – and it would be here that he would build his home and, beside it, a gin distillery.
Take a peek inside this distillery by the sea, where one of the UK’s finest gins is painstakingly crafted.
Catch The Sun
With a history of privateers and the Royal Navy, Dartmouth has been a jewel in the crown of the south coast since the days of the Domesday Book. It still retains an incredible charm; that’s one of the reasons why Lance spent many summers here as a child.
“Dartmouth is one of our favourite places. It has a real community all year round, historic buildings and a lovely tidal river – and it’s part of our family’s heritage. I spent some of my childhood summers there and just grew to love the place.”
Lance spent several childhood summers in Dartmouth
But Lance’s life couldn’t be all blissful summers by the sea. The real world came calling, and as a young adult, he joined the elite Royal Air Force Regimen. Already an athlete, he represented Great Britain as a bobsleigh driver and a sailor. His pursuits demanded a relentless and single-minded pursuit of excellence.
“Rightly or wrongly, those experiences had an influence on my approach to distilling.”
Lance parlayed his time in the RAF into a successful business career, but it was a chance encounter at Heathrow Airport that sealed his fate. That was where met his future wife, Caroline, in the departures lounge.
A successful lawyer, Caroline shared Lance’s drive for perfection. But they had something else in common – something that would eventually lead them down a more epicurean path.
“We’re quite complimentary; we’re both enthusiasts. Caroline is never happier than when she has a project underway, and she loves creating order from chaos, be it mowing the lawn or establishing rows of vines and trees across a hillside.”
Lance learned that they had something else in common: family heritages tied to the sea. Caroline’s family had owned a boatyard, and in the 1850s built the sailing schooners that would have transported gin botanicals back to the UK from Africa and the West Indies.
Lance and Caroline have strong connections to the sea
Dartmouth Distiller Company
When Lance and Caroline made the move down to Devon, they weren’t looking for a place to build a distillery.
“We simply wanted to find a place by the sea, away from the crowds. Our families’ past drew us back to Devon.”
But Lance and Caroline found more than their forever home. They happened to settle on a plot of land – called Calancombe – with south-facing slopes and the perfect terroir to establish a winery.
“Once we made the move, we realised that the farm would make a terrific vineyard. Caroline set about planting 23,000 vines, and now we make wine using grapes we’ve grown under the name Calancombe Estate.”
With a keen sense of smell and an encyclopaedic knowledge of wine, Caroline had found her new calling. She and Lance also planted an orchard, and now produce sparkling cider with the estate’s apples.
As for Lance? His interests lay with the stronger stuff.
“Gin was always my drink of choice, and the RAF has a long tradition of gin drinking. Later, I enjoyed the new gins that the craft revolution brought us, and it was at this point that we started thinking about distilling.”
Lance, curious about the amazing new gins coming to market, started visiting local distilleries. Technically minded himself, he admired the beautiful copper stills and the expertise required to run them. He began to taste gin in a new way, picking out individual flavours and how they worked together.
Inspired, he bought himself an alembic still – a neat little piece of kit that slotted right onto the stove – and started experimenting. He quickly learned that he could make a fairly good gin his new still, albeit in very small quantities. But he was soon eager for more.
“Looking forward, we also want to make brandy from our wine and some fruit-based spirits. That’s why we decided to look for a really special still.”
Searching for the Still
Having already admired a number of copper stills in other distilleries, Lance knew that he was facing a vital decision: what still he would choose to work on.
“We spent a long time deciding what type of still to buy. We chose a Müller Still, made in the Black Forest by fourth-generation still makers, and it’s at the heart of what makes our gin special.”
Mueller Pot Stills are renowned the world over
Lance and Caroline spent a few days with the Müllers at their home in Germany’s Black Forest, where these stills are still hand-crafted by the family. While there, they soaked up the local culture of distillation, visiting farmers who still used wood-burning stills to make their seasonal schnapps and apple brandy. They also met local distillers who had been crafting exquisite eaux de vie from local fruits.
Indeed this gleaming still, with its copper column, is a work of art. Taking six months to complete, it’s a tower of hand-beaten copper embedded with the latest technology, giving Lance precise control over the distillation process.
But before Lance could use it, he had to wait for it to be built – so he passed the time by crafting a recipe for his signature gin.
A Signature Style
Lance began by making a library of botanical distillates, running dozens of botanicals through a rotary evaporator (a miniature vacuum still that functions at very low temperatures) to suss out how fruits, flowers and spices behave when distilled.
“We wanted to create a modern take on a classic gin – juniper-led and complex, with several flavour groups, but avoiding some of the bitterness I had noted in some gins.”
By the time his beautiful still arrived and was installed in the distillery, Lance was more than ready to get started on his signature recipe.
Lance’s signature gin is a glorious spirit, a perfectly calibrated combination of all his favourite botanicals. And, in true Lance fashion, the production is an exercise in precision from beginning to end.
Lance sources his botanicals from across the globe
That commitment to quality begins with the botanicals themselves. They’re sourced from around the world, combing the flavours of four continents with the aromas of herbs grown on Calancombe Estate, just steps from the distillery. The water is pulled from an aquifer beneath the distillery.
These impeccable ingredients come together in Lance’s beautiful copper still, which he runs with exquisite control.
“I found that the best way to make our gin is very slowly – that means I work 16 hours in a day! You could say that I’ve made a rod for my own back, but it achieves the result that we like best.”
After such a painstaking development process, it was important for Lance and Caroline found the right name for their gin – and Lance, who had created it just steps from his home, a stone’s throw from the town where his mother had spent her childhood and where his family went back for generations, knew just what it would be.
The Drink of Dartmouth
From the beginnings of Lance’s foray into gin, he knew that any spirit he released wouldn’t be a vanity project. He didn’t want to produce bottle after bottle of a gin named after himself.
So Lance and Caroline decided to name their gin after Dartmouth, a town that had prospered for nearly a thousand years beside the sea, and that they were proud to call home. Indeed, the label of the Dartmouth English Gin in our June 2020 Gin of the Month box is emblazoned with the very symbol of Dartmouth’s storied past.
As a child, Lance was bewitched by the wrought iron leopards on the doors of St Saviour’s Church in Dartmouth. Carbon-dated to 1361, the leopards found their home on the door thanks to an incredible power struggle in the Catholic Church, and to this day remain a source of great wonder for Lance, who marvels at the incredible skill that went into crafting them.
Dartmouth has a rich history
“The image is the oldest icon of Dartmouth, so it seemed like the perfect symbol for our gin.”
Lance and Caroline released Dartmouth English Gin to universal acclaim, and in 2018 won the Craft Distillers ‘Gin of the Year Award’. Since then, they’ve started looking for new ways to bring their little spot of land by the sea to spirits lovers around the world. A Navy Strength gin is on the roster, and there’s more to come.
“I’ve planted many damsons, plum and Mirabelle trees, and have started to experiment with them. We also have around 3,000 blackcurrant bushes, and eventually, I’d like to use them in a liqueur. It’s a prospect that really inspires me, and I look forward to the future very much.”
For Lance and Caroline, making an amazing gin or wine isn’t about raking in awards or making a savvy sale to retire early. For them, it’s all about delighting gin lovers with these spirits, handcrafted beside the sea.
“By luck or by design, we’ve made a gin that people really love. That, to me, is the reward.”
Visit Calancombe Estate!
After years spent cultivating their vines, orchards and gardens, Lance and Caroline are going to open their stunning visitor centre. Here’s what you can expect from a trip to Calancombe Estate:
Nestled in one of the most beautiful parts of England – right between Dartmoor and the south coast, with views of the sea from its highest points – Calancombe Estate would always have been an appealing destination for a day out. But when Lance and Caroline open the doors to their visitor centre, it will become a bucket list destination for wine and gin lovers alike.
“We’re putting a lot of effort into making the visitor centre a lovely, welcoming space. It’s a place where visitors can spend as much of the day with us as they’d like.”
Dartmouth is a wonderful place to visit
You will be able to take a guided tour of the winery and orchards, learning from Lance, Caroline and head winemaker Olly about the grape and apple varieties grown on the estate, have a perfect Dartmouth G&T at the distillery bar or even spend a relaxed day on your own, exploring the hills of the vineyard or picnicking beneath the apple trees.
“And, of course, everyone can enjoy the beauty and tranquillity of Calancombe Estate and the surrounding area. The views are amazing.”
Lance will also be offering visitors a range of ginny activities in his distillery. From tours and gin tastings to a hands-on gin school, where visitors can choose their own botanicals and work on a still to craft their own gin, making it a dream day out for gin enthusiasts. And Lance will also be inviting guest mixologists to the bar. A recent convert to cocktails himself, he’s eager to bring that same delight to his visitors.
“My first trip to London to experiment with cocktails was like being a little boy getting taken to a sweet shop for the first time. If I can share some of the magic of that experience with our guests during our cocktail masterclasses, I’ll be delighted.”
Lance and Caroline have plans to continue expanding the centre. By next year, their guests will be able to stop by for tapas and wine at the visitor centre’s café or relax by the crackling fire with coffee and cake.
For a couple whose great passion has always been sharing their wine and gin with friends, it’s a dream come true.
“We can’t wait to welcome visitors here.”
Dartmouth English Gin is amazing in both our June 2020 Perfect G&T and our June 2020 Cocktail of the Month, Craft Gin Club’s Knickerbocker Glory!
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