News / Gin
Friends, flatmates and teammates launch new gin
It started with a chat in the lounge at the house they share in Lyde Green and has now become the latest gin to enter the market.
XV Gin has been created by Jake Woolmore and Sam Bedlow, who are both among the first team squad at Bristol Bears.
The name of the gin is a nod to their rugby background, with 15 different botanicals going into the London dry gin, which is distilled at the Chew Valley Distillery in Chew Magna.
is needed now More than ever
Listen to Jake Woolmore talk about XV Gin in the latest episode of the Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
https://soundcloud.com/bristol247/b247-ep11-finaledit?ct=t(B247_newsletter_250721)&mc_cid=acd07b2691&mc_eid=30ea530c91
“Sam and I are quite proactive in looking for things outside of rugby,” 30-year-old Woolmore told the Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast while sitting in Burra in Redland, another business owned by Bristol Bears teammates.
He said that he, Bedlow and their partners who are also involved in the business wanted to be part of the gin-making process from start to finish.
This meant working closely with Chew Valley Distillery on tastings to build a flavour profile using their 15 different botanicals which include grapefruit, ginger and rosemary.
“We wanted to achieve something which meant something to us… we didn’t want a flavoured gin but we wanted something with flavour.”
XV Gin is a London dry gin containing 15 different botanicals – photo: XV Gin
Woolmore added: “As a rugby player I keep want to be achieving all I can in a Bristol Bears shirt. As a gin entrepreneur, I just want us to keep growing.
“We’ve started off with our London dry and our XV brand. We just want to take that as far as we can.”
Main photo: XV Gin
Read more: Cider slushies could be coming to Bristol this summer
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