Craft gin terminology has been abused too much

The term craft gin has been overused across the segment and is now meaningless, Warner Edwards’ founder Tom Warner told The Morning Advertiser​.

• Come to the Future Trends: Spirits event in London on 3 October, where Warner Edwards will be showcasing its range. Book your tickets here​​

“Ask anybody to define craft gin... they can’t,” he said at the gin’s distillery in Harrington, Northamptonshire. “I feel that craft means small batch, handmade and independently produced.”

Authenticity and provenance​

He added: “It is unfair to tell lifelong distillers, that now produce some of the world's biggest brands, that they have lost their craft [because they're not a new gin]."

Warner’s comments followed the launch of the distillery’s fifth gin, Melissa Lemon Balm, which is the first in a series of limited edition 'botanical gins' that are all inspired by a herb garden built in commemoration of the founder’s late mother.

The main characteristic of 43% ABV Melissa is lemon, which comes from the lemon balm plant Melissa Officinalis. ​

Warner added: “We will do a range of these botanical gins and we have our eye on the next one. The idea was that we have grown quite quickly as a company and have doubled in size every year since launching and we’re going into the big boys (retailers).

“So to keep the smaller guys happy, the people who have supported us since we launched, we’re creating the botanical garden range so we will have limited-edition gins out there not available to the bigger players.”

A second new limited-edition gin could be available by next Christmas, yet Warner would not reveal the flavour profile.

Future Trends: Spirits event​

Warner Edwards will be exhibiting at The Morning Advertiser​'s Future Trends: Spirits event on 3 October.

Speakers at the event will include non-alcoholic spirit founder Ben Branson, representatives from Diageo and Schweppes as well as CGA Strategy and Euromonitor International.

To book your place at the Future Trends: Spirits event either visit www.spiritssummit.co.uk​ or contact Joanne Horton by email at Joanne.Horton@wrbm.com​ or by phone on 01293 610 403.

Event partners include headline sponsors Diageo and Schweppes, associate partners Pernod Ricard UK and the WSET and bar partners City of London Distillery, Masons, Slingsby and Warner Edwards.