Review

Lyme Bay Winery
Reserve Damson Gin

Lyme Bay Winery, Shute, Axminster, Devon, England, UK.

Lyme Bay Winery.

Originally established in the 1990’s and called the Lyme Bay Cider Company, the dream for Managing Director Nigel Howard was to produce real natural West Country hard cider. Having achieved this with adroitness, the company has steadily grown to produce mead, country wines and fruit liqueurs. They are now in the process of creating wine from vineyards planted in 2008 and 2010.

Hand made in small batches with natural ingredients including handpicked damsons. The damsons are steeped for 4 months in an undisclosed London Dry Gin with added sugar to make this Gin Liqueur.

This light red colored Gin is presented in a clear squat rectangular bottle with a large cream colored label. In the center of the label is a circular image of some damsons.

Gluten free and suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Flavored Gin - Damson.

26% (52 Proof).

$$$$ - $$$$$. Not available in the USA. Try Alexander Hadleigh in the UK but, expect to pay an additional 100% for shipping and most importantly, you’ll need an import license.

Unknown but certainly includes damsons and juniper berries.

The winery at Axminster is within sight of Lyme Bay, hence the name. Found on the borders of two counties, Dorset and Devon in England, it is part of a World Heritage Site called The Jurassic Coast. This coastline displays layers of rock spanning around 185 million years and are responsible for some of the first known discoveries of dinosaur fossils. The Gin is also named after the key botanical used.

Unfortunately we have not tasted this yet, so are unable to provide any details. It will be interesting to see how this compares to their Reserve Sloe Gin Liqueur. We expect, given the lighter color to other Damson Gin liqueurs in the market place, this will have a lighter fruit and more Gin forward flavor similar to their Sloe Gin. According to Lyme Bay Winery it is softer and drier than their Sloe Gin.

Two Gold Stars, Great Taste Awards, 2013.

Gold Medal, Taste of the West, 2013.

Bronze Medal, Taste of the West, 2010.

Silver Medal, Taste of the West, 2008.