Southwestern Distillery

Southwestern Distillery, maker's of Tarquin's Gin. Traditionally made small batch spirits. Handcrafted on the wild Cornish coast.

It's 2012 - The uk’s craft gin scene is beginning to boom. The appetite for small-batch, craft gins is seemingly insatiable. Micro-distilleries are beginning to pop up all over the uk, however one region remains unchartered.

One 23 year-old, a classically trained chef from the Cordon Bleu in Paris, somehow finds himself sat behind a grey desk in the city of London. Tarquin, supported by the business acumen and drive of his sister Athene, sets his sights on establishing the first Cornish distillery for over 100 years. Armed with a 0.7 ltr copper pot still, a suitcase stuffed with botanicals weird and wonderful, and a prized surfboard, Tarquin makes his return to the West Country.

It's 2014 - Two months after the sale of the first bottle comes the release of his second product to strengthen and significantly diversify the Southwestern portfolio and further buck convention. A product that is as unique as it is bold as it is brave – Tarquin crafts the first ever Pastis to be commercially distilled in the UK. The brilliantly named ‘Cornish Pastis’.

On the eve of Tarquin’s first anniversary he receives news. News that places Southwestern Distillery firmly on the craft-spirits map. First comes a Gold medal for the Pastis from the 2014 San Francisco World Spirits Awards. The only Pastis in the world to win Gold that year. Next, it’s the Gin’s turn. It claims its own Gold medal from the 2014 IWSC awards. One of only six Gold medals to be awarded to all international gins.

Over the ensuing years, up to the present day see even more Gold and double Gold medals awarded for these two original labels.