The London Distillery Company

The London Distillery Company Ltd
Type Single malt English whisky
Manufacturer The London Distillery Company Ltd
Country of origin London, SW11
United Kingdom
Introduced 2011

The London Distillery Company, also known as TLDC, is a distillery based in a former Victorian dairy cold room in Battersea, London.[1] TLDC produce English whisky, London gin and British spirits, compounds and cordials. TLDC also creates experimental spirits under the TESTBED brand; named after the art space of similar ethos by architect Will Alsop.[2][3]

The company was founded in 2011 by Darren Rook,[4][5] and angel investment expert and former microbrewery owner, Nick Taylor.[6] TLDC is London’s first whisky distillery since the Lea Valley distillery closed in 1903.[7][8]

History

Georgian Era

In 1807 Ralph Dodd proposed to build a distillery in Nine Elms, London. The company, to be called The London Distillery Company, took receipt of monies and share subscriptions for transferable shares. Dodd created a board of directors from prominent peers and engineers, partly prompted by Dodd's involvement with an 1806 business proposal for the Vauxhall Bridge Company.

The board of directors comprised: James Heygate,[9][10] Ralph Dodd, John Taylor, William Clay, William Norris, Fenwick Bulmer, Samuel Sharpe, John Moore, Matthew Wilson, James Norris, John Calvert Clarke, Thomas Rolle, Abraham Walker, John Moore and Christopher Dunkin.[11]

Following a complaint by a prominent Essex-based corn distillery headed by Tory MP Philip Metcalfe the English Crown brought a case against Dodd and The London Distillery Company under the 1720 Bubble Act. This was after raising funds, assembling staff and acquiring the Old Water Mill at Nine Elms on the Thames for £12,000. As the first case to be made under this act the Crown hired barrister Sir William Garrow as prosecutor. Dodd lost the case and the business was disbanded.[12]

The London Distillery Company logo from 2011 - used during the company's early funding stages

Funding

The London Distillery Company Ltd filed dormant trading accounts from June 2011 to March 2012.

Starting in early November 2011 TLDC took part in investment network Envestors Ltd's Rising Stars initiative to raise £250,000 against 45% equity. By late January 2012, TLDC had raised £150,000 through the Envestors network and friends and family of both founders. As traditional investment slowed down they decided to seek funding on crowd funding website Crowdcube to help raise a further £100,000.[13]

Production

Fermentation

TLDC uses two 2,200 litre stainless steel fermenters from Christian CARL.

TLDC uses traditional London yeast varieties such as Whitbread B and Young's which are propagated as a liquid yeast slurry by Surebrew. Both were used for early stage fermentation trails in December 2013.[14]

Distillation

The London Distillery Company Ltd currently operates two pot stills.

For whisky production they distill on a 650 litres copper pot still with 4 plate distillation column which was manufactured in Stuttgart Germany. Manufactured by Christian CARL GmbH, Germany’s oldest distillery fabricator since 1869,[15] the stillhead was designed by Darren Rook.

TESTBED1

In collaboration with Dr Jason Grizzanti[16][17] the Company pioneered a new gin category: Anglo-American Gin,[18] acting as a crossover between the juniper-forward London Dry Gins and the more experimental New Western styles of American gins.[19]

The first release from the TESTBED range gives people the opportunity to chart the various stages of gin development. The gin gets its distinct complexity from varying proportions of unique, organic botanicals – including bilberry, lovage root and lavender.[20] South London freelance artist Jasmin Ford illustrated the package artwork.

The 109s

The first 109 cask

The 109 casks were launched in November 2012 as a part of The London Distillery Company's involvement with the men's health charity Movember.[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ The London Distillery Company Website
  2. ↑ Testbed1 Art Space Website
  3. ↑ London Town Website - Housed in an ex-dairy warehouse in Battersea, Testbed1 is a creative, experimental arts "space with no agenda" which launched in spring 2010
  4. ↑ Whisky Guy whisky blog
  5. ↑ Times online - Clampdown on freelancer rules
  6. ↑ [The Envestors London Team http://www.envestorslondon.co.uk/About-Us/London-team/]
  7. ↑ Lea Valley Distillery
  8. ↑ The Londonist - London's first whisky distillery in 100 years to start production
  9. ↑ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
  10. ↑ http://thepeerage.com/p41917.htm#i419163 James Heygate was born on 11 January 1747
  11. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=-jSzCZtidwYC&pg=PA116&dq=Christopher+Dunkin&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gMufUMHGEOPQ0QX7_4FA&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false Sustaining the Fleet 1793-1815
  12. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=sPlbAAAAQAAJ&dq=Ralph%20dodd&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false Joint stock companies with transferrable shares
  13. ↑ Crowdcube - The London Distillery Company Pitch
  14. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25349961
  15. ↑ Christian CARL GmbH
  16. ↑ WARWICK VALLEY WINERY & DISTILLERY, ESTABLISHED 1994
  17. ↑ Jason Grizzanti, Consulting Distiller at NY Distilling Company Archived 2012-10-28 at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ↑ The London Distillery Co's Testbed1 Gin Range
  19. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/0/19749800 BBC Food - Is boutique gin the tonic for shrinking spirits market? Hannah Briggs
  20. ↑ Lascelles, Alice (14 December 2012). "The trend: London's adventurous spirits". Financial Times. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  21. ↑ "Whisky for Movember at The London Distillery Company". Whisky Magazine, 18 October 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
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