Reverend Hubert Winter Gin Liqueur - 50cl, 27% ABV | Premium Alcoholic Drink Made with Natural Real Fruit | A Gin Liqueur Handmade in the UK | Perfect with Prosecco | Ideal for Gifts & Parties

Product Information

I know where to go in the world to find the perfect style of a certain type of fruit. Like Serbia and its plums.” Because of that, I started making a limoncello because in London, for me, 10 years ago, it was quite difficult to find a nice limoncello. I started importing Amalfi lemons and zesting them, so then at the end, we could all have a shot or two and keep going. That progressed into now every time I have a dinner party, I’ve got to have some kind of cool homemade something or other.

Famously, he was even arrested by the Marshalls and imprisoned for several days, until he agreed to give up his still. He had another old rusty version hidden in an oak tree for just Tom: Yeah. Yeah. I think they’re called something or other. And so, ‘Where do they come from? What oil are they covered in?’ And I mean, I kind of opened a can of worms a bit didn’t I, but we had six months of, at first awesome fun testing out whether it was vodka or gin and a bit of lemon and a bit of star anise. Was the Sri Lankan cinnamon better than the Indian cinnamon? Susan: You just have to ask. People can always say no, but you just have to ask. Sometimes it works out with you and Fortnum Mason, how fabulous. So, they’ve got it in a glass case. It says Reverend Hubert Winter Gin Liqueur, come on and get it. How did it do? We even ground our own spices. It was an incredible number of man hours, and we are still learning how to make it now, still adjusting and adapting.”He certainly was not looking to make his life any easier, but such was his determination to get as close to his ancestor’s original recipe it meant going the extra mile to get the ingredients just right. Lush Life Merchandise is here – we’re talking t-shirts, mugs, iphone covers, duvet covers, ipad covers and more covers for everything! and more!

Some people might know him because he has won Wine Personality of the Year and he used to be that the wine or spirits guy on Tom Kerridge’s Food and Drink. Often been on television, podcast, blah, blah, blah. He came along and I said, “Have a taste. Do you think this is worth pursuing?” And his first question was, ‘Which raisins do you use?” Reverend Hubert’s original spirit is a genuine recreation of a recipe that was first created over 100 years ago. I think things are more serious now. We’ve got some investment in the business. There’s only so long that you could make 5,000 bottles demand, which is great. It’s too big for me to keep it up on my own. I need people to help me and to do that. I now have a responsibility to other people, which I love. We’ve got fun people involved, we’ve got the Duke of Norfolk, Eddy, who has invested in spirits before and who knows what he’s doing. He who brings cleverness and knowledge and fun to the party. That’s the experience that we’re going for. And we’ve got a garden gin version Fortnum and Mason would like me to make something else for them.Whilst the gin category might be fit for bursting, the sight of a winter gin liqueur is rare indeed which makes the story behind the Reverend Hubert even more fascinating. If you are sitting comfortably then let me begin… Label within a label The label and design looks to reflect the mixed personality of Reverend Hubert Tom: Susan. Good question. I lived in Australia for a long time. I absolutely love Sydney. It’s one of my favorite places in the world. New Year’s in Sydney, there’s a place on Bondi Beach called Icebergs, right, which is an amazing restaurant. You can sit there, you can watch the surfers, you can see everything coming in. I’ve seen all these pictures of him at a lot of parties. They’re either photos in the church of, you can imagine a Christmas Eve gathering a few carols and then a few drinks, all that situated on a tennis court because he was a big tennis fan. He insisted on a grass court naturally next to the Vicarage. When I look at all the pics, whenever I see him, he’s smiling. He’s happy. He’s jolly. He’s clearly enjoying his life and the label, right? Tom: Okay. Sorry. Yeah. Right. So, Hubert is my great-grandfather. He was a chap who I didn’t know much about who a composer of music was. He was an amazing Reverend; he was a chess champion. He fought in the war, so lots of really interesting, good stuff, but having said all that, right. He also was married a couple of times and it was clear that he enjoyed a party.

Susan: All right. So, you got it in the Cotswolds. You have it in the bottle. What do you do next? Obviously, you laugh. Tom: Exactly. And then, I started going through his stuff and there’s an amazing Bible. And then I look into the family history without getting a bit kind of Who Do You Think You Are type of thing. And it was interesting. Tom: Right. We’re there at the process of what are we going to call it? How do we name it? And there was nothing. I’m a big fan of things happen for reason. I am at my Auntie Caroline’s house having lunch and she brings out a flask of his from the wall, right. One of the walls. It’s got a recipe on it and It’s got sloes in it and one thing and another. I’m like, wow, I kind of suddenly been making this and he had a Reverend Hubert had this and then, then there’s this connection between me and Hubert.

He says even the peeling of one lemon, or orange had to be done in a certain way. “You have to use a peeler so that you only just get the top layer of lemon skin. We also discovered that we needed a tiny layer of pith from the orange as it adds an essential bit of balancing tannin to the drink.” The other stand out feature about Reverend Hubert is its distinctive label. One that immediately looks familiar and somehow iconic, even though it’s the first time you have seen it. Tom: The label came about because I read articles about him. During one of the wars, the Belgian refugees came to England and he was at the time based near Nottingham. They shifted them away from London as, as they did. One of the things that he did, which just remained in my mind was to go round, no one had any money or anything, but he used to collect eggs. Tom: Good question because I have no idea about spirits. I’ve never worked in booze. I’ve had various jobs in the past, some incredibly brilliant and amazing and some less so good. This came about because I love having dinner parties. I always like people at the end of a dinner party to stay for an extra couple of hours to make sure, since we’re all together, that we make the most out of hanging out. Susan: All right. So, after your six months, you have something that you think is fantastic. What was your idea going forward after that time?