Sacred Spirits (previously known as Sacred Microdistillery) is a

microdistillery A microdistillery is a small, often boutique-style distillery established to produce beverage grade spirit alcohol in relatively small quantities, usually done in single batches (as opposed to larger distillers' continuous distilling process). W ...

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisat ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It distills its spirits under a

vacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or " void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often di ...

in glassware, and thus 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 in a

wendy house A Wendy house is a United Kingdom term for a playhouse for children, which is large enough for one or more children to enter. Size and solidity can vary from a plastic kit to something resembling a real house in a child's size. Usually there is ...

in the distiller's back garden. It is an authorised Customs and Excise distillery.

History

Sacred Spirits was established in London in 2009; it is the only vacuum distillery in London. Sipsmith Distillery in Hammersmith started at a similar time, but is an atmospheric pressure copper pot. Sacred Microdistillery was launched by Ian Hart and Hilary Whitney initially as a pure Gin distillery, but this has now branched out into flavoured

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuriti ...

s, such as Sacred Vodka, produced using the same process. Ian Hart, who had previously worked as a Wall Street banker, was laid off in 2008. After his layoff, he began to conduct tests on making gin starting in September 2008. After conducting 23 gin-making experiments, he made the initial batch of Sacred Gin on May 22, 2009, and founded Sacred Spirits. The recipe, which had 12 botanicals including juniper,

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are r ...

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

, and ''

Boswellia sacra ''Boswellia sacra'' (commonly known as frankincense or olibanum-tree) is a tree in the Burseraceae family. It is the primary tree in the genus '' Boswellia'' from which frankincense, a resinous dried sap, is harvested. It is native to the Arabia ...

'', had a "fresh, creamy and aromatic quality" according to Tina Brown in her book ''Gin: An Illustrated History''. Sacred Gin received a Double Gold Medal during the 2013

San Francisco World Spirits Competition The San Francisco World Spirits Competition was founded in 2001 by Anthony Dias Blue as an off-shoot of the San Francisco International Wine Competition. It assesses hundreds of entrants annually (1,407 in 2013 from 63 countries) with tastings inv ...

. Eric Grossman wrote in his book ''Craft Spirits'' that "Sacred has turned gin on its head by favoring vacuum distillation instead of traditional pot distillation". The distillery is in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

in Ian Hart's house. His wife, Hilary Whitney, operates the company with him. People from 17 countries purchased 34,000 bottles of gin from the company in 2014. Sacred Spirits also has created

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ca ...

vermouth Vermouth (, ) is an aromatized fortified wine, flavoured with various botanicals (roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices) and sometimes colored. The modern versions of the beverage were first produced in the mid- to late 18th centur ...

, and

negroni A Negroni is an Italian cocktail, made of one part gin, one part vermouth rosso (red, semi-sweet) and one part Campari, garnished with orange peel. It is considered an apéritif. A traditionally made Negroni is stirred, not shaken; it is buil ...

products. Sacred Microdistillery is based on a residential street in North London. It distributes its products to over 50 bars and restaurants in North and Central London, This includes Duke's Bar in

St James's St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the d ...

, where Ian Fleming invented the Vesper cocktail. It is also stocked by

Fortnum and Mason Fortnum & Mason (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an upmarket department store in Piccadilly, London, with additional stores at The Royal Exchange, St Pancras railway station, Heathrow Airport in London and K11 Musea In H ...

in Piccadilly, and Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Oxfordshire, and Gerry's of

Old Compton Street Old Compton Street is a road that runs east–west through Soho in the West End of London. History The street was named after Henry Compton who raised funds for a local parish church, eventually dedicated as St Anne's Church in 1686. Th ...

. The distiller started on a small scale, and personally delivered stock to local bars and restaurants on London's tubes and buses before acquiring an on-trade distributor, Coe Vintners.

Products

Sacred Microdistillery's first two spirits are Sacred Vodka and Sacred Gin, both of which are produced in small batches of a few hundred bottles a time, from English Grain Spirit. Each batch is made with two or three fractions: the initial one is collected under glass coils cooled with iced water (about 0 °C), the middle is collected under a cold finger cooled to -89 °C with dry ice (solid CO₂), and the final fraction is collected under liquid

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

under a cold finger at -196 °C. The separately distilled botanicals therefore produce 2-3 fractions each, which are blended as the final part of the process. Sacred Gin is 40% ABV. It uses 12 botanicals including: Juniper,

Angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They gr ...

Root, Fresh Orange Peel, Fresh Lemon Peel and Fresh Lime Peel,

Cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are r ...

. and Frankincense. Sacred Vodka is 40% ABV. It is a wholly redistilled flavoured vodka using 7 botanicals including: Cubeb, Angelica Root,

Nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

, and Frankincense.

Reception

In his book, ''Craft Spirits'', Eric Grossman praised Sacred Gin for being "a beautifully balanced spirit". Writing in his book ''The Book of Gin'' about Sacred Gin, Richard Barnett said, "there's a remarkable clarity and intensity of flavor here, balanced with a fragrant creaminess" and "this is a gin which can be nosed and sipped like a good wine".

References

External links

* {{Official, https://sacredgin.com/ Microdistilleries Distilleries in England Drink companies based in London Manufacturing companies based in London Highgate British companies established in 2009