Harrogate Tipple, the distiller of Harrogate Gin and Rum, has opened a retail shop at its Ripley, North Yorkshire distillery.
The vintage style retail shop, adjacent to the famous Boar’s Head pub in the village, is offering tastings of the company’s craft gin and rum products to prospective customers, as well its popular glassware and gifts including candles, fine chocolates and mugs.
Internationally renowned distiller Tom Nichol, a 48-year industry veteran distilling world-famous spirits including Tanqueray Ten, oversees the creation of all the firm’s recipes and is a partner in the business that was launched by Harrogate couple Steven and Sally Green in 2016.
“We are really proud of the truly craft distilling we do here in Ripley. Having already received many requests from gin aficionados eager to see our copper stills and have a peek behind the scenes of Harrogate’s only local distillery, it was a natural next step to build out a retail space and get a licence to sell to visitors and tourists,” said co-founder Steven Green.
“The shop certainly reflects the personality of the brand, with an eclectic, fun and welcoming vintage feel, with glimpses of the gorgeous copper stills through the open shelves to allow customers to see us making the batches.”
The opening this weekend follows the purchase of the distillery and head office building from the Ripley Castle Estate this week and brings the firm’s total investment to date to over £650,000 in its three year history.
“We get most of our botanicals from the historic Ripley Castle gardens and hothouse, just a stone’s throw from the distillery that was converted from an old estate barn a year ago. We also use Harrogate Spring Water to maintain the quality of the drinks as well as ensuring local provenance which is really important to us as a truly small batch craft distiller,” added Mr Green.
The purchase of the 4,000 square foot property is part of the company’s long-term growth plans that also include the expansion of the corporate events business.
“We are ambitious about building our following in the region by extending the retail sales we enjoy through many independent retailers, bars and restaurants. We’re also excited to have opened our own visitor attraction enabling customers to see the stills for themselves and find out more about the premium spirit-making process. Being able to visit the place where their tipple is created is a great step forward in our brand building,” added co-founder Sally Green.
The distillery shop, which is immediately adjacent to the Boar’s Head pub on Main Street, Ripley, is open from 11am to 5pm Wednesday to Sunday during the summer months.
