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Sipsmith Distillery
Sipsmith Distillery

Gin distillery tours in London

Gin is huge in London, with a new wave of amazing gin distilleries and tours to explore

Written by
Laura Richards
&
Richard Ehrlich
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London has a collection of amazing gin distilleries, while a growing number of bars specialise in the fragrant spirit. But there are even more ways to get stuck into the juniper-based drink and distil your knowledge in London. Get to grips by making your very own variant on the spirit, learn the complicated and clouded history of London’s favourite tipple and test out more of the stuff than you can shake a stick at. It’s a dreamy gift to give to any gin lover in your life, should you be stuck for inspiration. Here's our pick of the best gin distillery tours and experiences in London, giving drinkers access all areas to mother’s ruin.    

RECOMMENDED: The best cocktail bars in London.

Gin distillery tours in London for tasting the best botanical notes

  • Bars and pubs
  • Blackfriars

Get up close and personal with the custom-made copper stills at City of London Distillery. Enjoy a £25 session that lasts an hour and 15 minutes and takes in London’s unique gin history. You’ll be fuelled by a flight of three gins, and you can purchase more gin tipples at the distillery's slick cocktail bar straight after.  Alternatively, you can design and distil your very own gin for £125 in the 'gin lab'.

  • Things to do
  • Food and drink events
  • Balham

Take a tour of Hayman’s, a distillery that made its return to London in 2018, setting up shop in Balham. Tours cost £25, last 90 minutes and include an all-important G&T, plus a tutored tasting. Cocktail masterclasses are also on offer for £35.

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  • Attractions
  • Kennington

The granddaddy of London gin traces its origins back to 1829 and has been distilling on this site since 1958. Amazingly, London's oldest and most internationally renowned distillery is open to visitors. Tours last around an hour and a half and cost £25 (G&T included). Plus, there’s a particularly enlightening sniff-tour of the major botanicals that give gin its characteristic flavour.   

  • Bars and pubs
  • Bermondsey

Easily slotted in alongside a visit to Maltby Street market, Jensen’s is made at the Bermondsey Distillery and you can drop in for a tasting on weekend market days. Admission is free, and you can bring in food from the market. If you want a proper tour, groups can email requests to gain access all areas on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

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  • Attractions
  • Chiswick

Sipsmith was the first of the new wave of London gin distilleries, and is still the best-known. The company runs tours (£25 including a G&T) at 6.30pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and at 4.30pm on selected Fridays. Sip a G&T while listening to a little history of gin in London, then tour the stills – Prudence, Patience and Constance – and get a tutored tasting. For £65 you can drink deeper with a two hour gin cocktail masterclass on Tuesday evenings.

  • Things to do
  • Blackfriars

For those who like their gin in the fast lane, it’s time to clamber on board The Gin Journey’s ‘gini bus’. The chauffeur-driven evening tour, led by a gin-ius team, takes in five bars and one distillery for £75, with a gin cocktail served at each location. Tours take place on Saturday afternoons and take place across either Soho and Shoreditch. Chauffeur: provided. Ibuprofen: BYO.

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They’re producing gin down by Camden Lock again for the first time in fifty years, and you have Half Hitch gin to thank for it. You can get hands on with this history at the micro-distillery’s very own Gin School. You’ll have a tutorial on the gin-making process before your chance to make your very own batch of the juniper-led spirit. You’ll leave with a bottle of your own booze, all for £70 per person. 

58 Gin
Photograph: 58 Gin

8. 58 Gin

Make your own small batch gin out east at 58 Gin’s Hackney Downs distillery. Over the course of three hours you'll settle in with a G&T before sampling three different gins to find what flavour profile most takes your fancy. Then select your botanicals and watch them as they work away in the still (with another gin cocktail in your hand all the while as well as some charcuterie nibbles). It costs £125 per person.

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