Ready for an Adventure? Campfire Cask Aged Gin Will Give you a Taste of the Great Outdoors!

 With a gorgeous golden colour and exquisite caramel flavours, this gin proves that good things come to those that wait! Kate and Ben Marston – the founders of the Chiltern Hills’ first ever distillery – took the time to age their gin in beautiful cask barrels made from oak. 

The result? The Campfire Cask Aged Gin that Craft Gin Club’s team of experts selected to be the February’s Discovery Gin! 

What exactly is a Discovery Gin? Each month, as well as the Gin of the Month sent to Craft Gin Club members, we bring our gin-loving community across the UK an extra special Discovery Gin at our online shop. 

These craft gins are delicious, unique and adventurous spirits, perfect for gin lovers who want to try something out of the box (quite literally!). This month we fell in love with Campfire Cask Aged Gin, a spirit at the forefront of the aged gins revival. 

Here’s why it’s special – and three fabulous ways to drink it! 

Nestled in the Chiltern Hills, surrounded by farms, woodlands, canals and rolling countryside, you’ll find Puddingstone Distillery. 

Master Distiller Ben explains, “The name Puddingstone comes from a type of rock that was used to build a lot of local buildings because it was said to ward off evil spirits. We thought that was a really fitting name for a distillery where we only intended to craft good ones!” 

It’s at Puddingstone Distillery that husband-and-wife duo Kate and Ben, tucked away in a cosy space decked out in reclaimed timber, work on their range of Campfire Gins. 

Ben says, “We named our gins ‘Campfire’ because Kate and I have always loved the outdoors. Our best gin experiences always happened outside by fires. Whether it was as simple as sitting by the fire pit in the garden with our friends or camping or glamping or even going on safari, a G&T was always within easy grasp. Campfire is just so evocative of gatherings and storytelling, sharing food and drink, community and warmth. We wanted to share that through the spirits we made.” 

It was their memories of enjoying the natural world with a good G&T in hand that inspired Kate and Ben to make sure they were making Campfire Gins eco-friendly. 

Ben explains “Our goal was to create good gins in a way that was mindful of our impact on the community and the environment around us. From ridding ecosystems of non-native invasive flower species by using them as a botanical to raising money for conservation wildlife trusts, we’re always looking for ways to be kinder to the environment.”

All four of the gins in the Campfire range pay homage to memories made in the great outdoors – as well as key moments in gin history.

“From the start, we knew we wanted to focus on classic, historically-relevant gin styles: London Dry, Old Tom, Navy Strength and Cask Aged,” says Ben. 

While a lot of gin lovers may be unfamiliar with aged gins and figure it’s a brand new trend, distillers have actually been ageing gin for hundreds of years.

Ben explains, “Before the 1861 Single Bottle Act, lots of gin was stored and transported in wooden barrels. I had previously aged other drinks in barrels when I worked at a brewery, so the idea of putting gin in casks was one that really intrigued us.” 

As a couple who loved spending time in nature, the idea of capturing the flavours of a great oak tree in their gin was very compelling. 

They wanted to do it right, and when it came to choosing the right barrel they knew three factors mattered most: 

1. What the barrels had previously contained 
2. The char on the cask (the inside of barrels are lightly toasted) 
3. The wood the barrels are made of  

What the barrels had previously contained 

The char on the cask (the inside of barrels are lightly toasted) 

The wood the barrels are made of  

In the end, they chose casks made from oak, that had been used to age bourbon by Kings County Distillery. 

Ben smiles, “They’re really good quality barrels made from American oak. They have the right amount of char and the bourbon they used to contain had a fruity note to it that lingers on.”

When it came to the gin Kate and Ben would age in the casks, they wanted it to have a strong family resemblance to Campfire London Dry and decided to use the same 10 botanicals.  

Ben says, “We wanted that same blend of classic and contemporary flavours as we had in our London Dry. With the Cask Aged, the tricky part was getting the right balance between the botanicals and the flavours the wood imparts. In the end, it came down to using different pre-treatments for the botanicals before distilling and changing the ratios up.” 

The gin rests in the casks for 22 days, and Kate and Ben waited for the first batch to age with bated breath. Once they cracked the cask open, they poured the amber-coloured liquid into two tasting glasses and each took a sip. To their delight, it was complex and subtle, full of warming caramel notes harmonising with fresh, citrusy botanical flavours. It was just the thing to drink by a campfire.

Whether you’re by a campfire or cosied up on your sofa, this is a gin well worth sampling. 

Ben says, “When I go camping, Cask Aged Gin and a splash of sweeter vermouth – a kind of six-to-one ratio Martini – is what goes in my hip flask. But this gin works really well with quite a few cocktails.”