OUR PATCH SPRING 2018
I
t’s hard to believe that it’s only
nine years since two childhood pals
sold their flats, put the money into
leasing a garage in Nasmyth Street,
Hammersmith, and set up the first
new copper pot gin distillery in
London for nearly two centuries.
The Sipsmith story is a phenomenon;
a soaraway success which still leaves
its founders shaking their heads in
amazement. “It’s been a bit of a rocket
ship ride,” admitted Sam Galsworthy,
who opened the distillery with his chum
Fairfax Hall in March 2009. “We are still
pinching ourselves.”
In those nine years, the operation has
shuffled half a mile across Ravenscourt
Park and Stamford Brook to its
current home in Cranbrook Road,
Chiswick. Sam had previously been
working a hop, skip and jump away
in that other local temple of drink
production, Fuller’s brewery. He
was then in his early 30s, and had
spent 10 years in beer – six of
them promoting brands such as
London Pride in the USA.
“It was while I was in the
States that I saw the momentum
behind consumers wanting
authenticity in what they were
drinking,” he told Our Patch.
“They were really buying into the
‘why’ of products; the US craft
scene was proving to consumers
that they deserved more.”
The idea of setting up a new gin
distillery came about after several long
conversations between Sam and Fairfax.
“He’s my best friend; we grew up
together in Cornwall,” Sam explained.
“I said ‘Look what’s going on in
Left: Sipsmith is master distiller
Jared Brown, and founders
Sam Galsworthy and Fairfax Hall
Sipsmith founder Sam
in Hammersmith
everything – brewing, distilling, clothes,
coffee…’ The US was going from ‘big is
beautiful’ to saying ‘small is wondrous’.”
So they took the decision to go into
business, assisted by master distiller Jared
Brown, the third of the three amigos. To
their amazement, they discovered that
what they were planning was illegal!
Back in the 1820s, in an effort to stem
production of cheap back-street gin and
contain the effect it was having on
London’s population, the government
outlawed small-scale distilling.
The clampdown meant it was harder
to hide from the authorities, making
the drinks industry easier to regulate.
The law had never been repealed. So
Sam, Fairfax and Jared set out to
change it. “We’d quit our jobs with
great trepidation and sold our flats,”
said Sam. “We spoke to our MP, and
to drinks trade associations, and
to revenue and customs.” Their
badgering led to an amendment
buried in the footnotes of the
2007 Finance Act, which said
that – after a gap of nearly 200
years – small distillers could once
again apply for a licence.
The boys were in business.
With the help of estate agent
John Horton, at Horton and
Garton, suitable premises were
found at 27 Nasmyth Street,
Brackenbury Village, and
Sipsmith was born behind a pair
of anonymous blue garage doors. It was
an address which felt right.
Fairfax realised that the former
tenant, whisky expert Michael Jackson,
was someone with whom he’d had an
animated chat at a wedding. Before that,
the building had done service as a pub’s
micro-brewery. The signs were good.
“Yes, John found us the original
garage,” Sam confirmed. “But he played
The new premises
in Chiswick
more of a role than that. He not only
unlocked that space for us, but he began
using our distillery as part of his pitch to
other people thinking of buying houses
in that road! We always tip our hat to
John when we pass Horton and Garton’s
offices; we really appreciate his help.”
Five years on, with demand far
outpacing Sipsmith’s capacity to supply,
the swan-neck copper pots were moved
from Hammersmith to Chiswick.
There were 12 gin distilleries
in the UK when we started...
now there are 480
There are now four – Prudence, Patience,
Constance and Cygnet – in a hangar
behind the homes in Cranbrook Road.
The role of Prudence in this good
news story shouldn’t be understated.
Mass produced spirits are made in
stainless steel, which can produce harsh
flavours which then need adjusting with
filtering and additives. But Sipsmith’s
copper stills have the effect of naturally
removing harshness.
Combine that with only taking the
best part of the distilled product (the
first and last parts of the process – the
head and the tail – are removed) and
you have a drink that does not need to
be filtered. In a way, Prudence is the real
star of this saga.
It’s fair to say there has been
something of a revolution in gin
distilling since the first Sipsmith bottle
was savoured by a public which had lost
touch with its 18th century passion for
the product. “There were 12 gin
distilleries in the UK when we started,”
said Sam. “Now, as a result of the law
change, there are 480. I’m rather proud
that we opened the doors and have
enabled other people to do it.”
Fairfax in the old
Hammersmith lab