Spitfire gin recreates 1930s style

A small batch gin is being sold under the banner of the Spitfire Heritage Trust, celebrating the iconic fighter plane, and is designed to recreate a 1930s retro spirit of “exceptional quality”.

The gin is being distilled in Cambridgeshire in hand beaten copper stills, housed in a 200 year old barn.

Developed by master distiller John Waters, the spirit is said to be one of only three single estate gins distilled in England.

The spirit for the gin is all distilled on the premises, from wheat grown on the local farm. The botanicals used in the gin include juniper, two types of orange, almonds and borage flower, as well as coriander, rosemary, star anise and rose petals.

The Spitfire Heritage Gin celebrates the efforts of the young female pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) in the Second World War, who delivered newly-built Spitfires without weapons to their RAF bases, at risk of attack from German Messerchmitts.

The gin was brought to market by Ian Hewitt, the founder of the Spitfire Heritage Trust, who wanted to produce a gin that harnessed the spirit of the 1930s era that saw the creation of the Spitfire.

The gin is being sold online and through the off-licence chain Wine Rack.