City of London Distillery – tours & tasting in the heart of London

I first visited the City of London Distillery (COLD) back in 2014. (If you read that first visit on my blog you can see how far I’ve come since I started blogging). This time Joe their brand ambassador invited me back to check out the changes and the new additions to their gin range.

The striking back bar at City of London Distillery

*Full disclosure – my tour and gin tasting at COLD was hosted by them for free*

City of London Distillery

Where is City of London Distillery located?

City of London Distillery is just off Fleet street right in the middle of the old City of London. The green lights projected on the pavement are the first sign that you are approaching the distillery.

The first sign of the City of London Distillery is this projection on the pavement outside

When you approach the door you spy the green paneling and a cat statue:

Entrance to City of London Distillery

Close up of the cat ‘statue’ mounted on the door

The cat is a nod to the ‘Puss and Mew shop’ – a way for the gin addicted to get their fix after the Gin Act of 1736. There would be a slot that a coin could be dropped into and as a result the cat would dispense a shot of gin via a pipe in its mouth. Inginious!

Head downstairs to access the bar and distillery area:

The City of London Bar

Walking into the bar it has a speakeasy vibe, with the dark green extended in and complemented with pieces of vintage furniture and wood panelling.

This is an impressive display on the back bar

Whilst City of London have an impressive array of their own gin, there are other gins available at the bar. It’s a full bar that includes other spirits and the makings for cocktails too, more on that later…

You can sit at the bar or at one of many lower tables in the room

All  around the room are gin memorabilia – including this Gin Lane game:

Gin Lane game

There’s even a large print of Gin Lane – the famous etching from William Hogarth referenced in the game

Bits of old still kicking around – does this count as distillery chic?!

The bar is a great place to pop in and grab a gin and tonic or cocktail. You can also visit to do a gin tasting or actually make gin with City of London Distillery:

The new gin experience rooms

Since I last visited the distillery has developed the space to showcase the Gin Lab and ‘make your own gin’ experiences. They also do tours and gin tastings that are less involved than the gin making experiences.

Create your own bottle of gin at the Gin Lab

When you make your own gin at City of London Distillery, there are loads of botanicals you can choose from.

A professional set up in miniature!

The session starts with smelling and selecting your ingredients (with a guiding hand from the staff). You then add these to the mini stills and distill your own gin!

The stills are all named after the 7 dwarfs from Sleeping Beauty!

Can you see all the names of the dwarfs?

The actual distilling for City of London Gin isn’t done on the mini stills (although Joe says they still use them to play around with ingredients). The actual distillery where the magic happens is next door (& also fully visible from the bar due to the large window).

Inside the City of London Distillery room:

This bottle represents the botanicals that make up the City of London, London Dry gin – only 8 botanicals (can you see the layers of botanicals?)

Botanicals for their London Dry gin

Inside the still!

Yes I do go around sticking my head in stills (but only when they are cold).

When I first visited City of London Distillery they had 2 stills – Clarissa and Jennifer, named after the two fat ladies.

The stills at City of London Distillery

This shot was trying to get the full length of the stills in the picture – I think I failed!

The latest girl in the distillery – Elizabeth

COLD are currently replacing Jennifer (the tall column still) with another pot still (the rounded ones with copper tops).

Tasting City of London gin

City of London distillery has expanded their range considerably since 2014. Now they have 9 gins in total, with 5 being part of the core range, the others more seasonal/limited edition.

Some of the different gin bottle labels on display in the bar area

COLD Dry gin

• Fresh lemon and grapefruit
• Dried orange
• Juniper
• Coriander
• Angelica
• Liquorice

Pretty tasting glass too!

Christopher Wren gin

• Liquorice
• Angelica
• Juniper
• Coriander
• Dried orange

The core City of London Distillery line up in those unique bottles

The Square Mile

Look at the legs on this one!

Old Tom

My Old Tom Martinez – I’m totally suggestible!

Six bells

Murcian Orange gin

Warming Winter orange, but it would also be refreshing in the Summer!

R&R – Rhubarb and Rose

When I visited the distillery this one was literally hot out of the still! As it was only cut with water that day it needed some time for the alcohol and water molecules to distribute and ‘mind meld’ (not a technical term!). At 41.3% this gin has tart rhubarb notes on the nose. It’s a London Dry style gin and has a light mouthfeel, with lemon and tartness. There isn’t strong rose note coming through and Joe explained that the rose was added to lift and add softer notes to the overall mix.

This was a collaboration between Head Distiller Guy and Jonnie Neill from Whitley Neill gin. They wanted to make a different take on a Rhubarb gin, whilst maintaining London Dry status.

This was the bottle I tried

Now that it’s out in full production you can identify it from the pink bottle:

Pretty in pink

Sloe gin

Newest release – Strawberry gin

Strawberry gin in it’s dark pink bottle

Katie with her outfit matching the COLD gin bottle colours! Ps this is Joe – say hi if you see him around!

Cocktails

Cocktails at the City of London Distillery bar are good. The list is extensive and they can make all the classics too. As I mentioned from my first visit, they make a great martini and you have plenty of choices for gin and tonics too.

I love this red embossed menu!

When I visited this time I enjoyed a Martinez cocktail made with City of London Distillery Old Tom gin. This cocktail is a precursor to the martini, and is made with gin and sweet red vermouth, a little maraschino liqueur and a dash of bitters. Mine was garnished with orange peel to complement.

A perfect martinez cocktail – such pretty glassware too!

Visiting City of London Distillery:

If you are in the City of London or wandering Fleet Street, then I highly recommend popping into City of London Distillery for a drink. The COLD bar is open from 4pm-11pm Monday through Saturday, and you can book a table for drinks online.

If, like me on my first visit, you want to know more about gin, City of London Distillery and to taste their gin range, then I’d recommend pre-booking a distillery tour and tasting (£25).

You can also book for the Gin Lab experience (£125) where you will make your own gin in one of the seven dwarfs stills. You can also buy vouchers for the experiences as gifts. The distillery is open 9am-5pm Monday through Friday

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