Reverend Hubert Winter Gin Liqueur - 50cl, 27% ABV | Premium Alcoholic Drink Made with Natural Real Fruit | A Gin Liqueur Handmade in the UK | Perfect with Prosecco | Ideal for Gifts & Parties

Product Information

There was a different tannin for Joe, the cost is irrelevant. Okay. So, Joe just wants to make the best. And at some point, you have to say, yeah, I’m afraid we can’t have the Guatemalan well-known raisin that only comes out five times a year, five buds a year. I’m like, let’s just calm it down. So, we did the best we could while keeping it a viable project. His gin drinks were of course a roaring success and eventually became Keighley’s worst kept secret. The Reverend Hubert Bell Lester (1868 -1929) was a charming and caring man who also enjoyed a good party, and in 1904 produced a popular winter gin liqueur that he shared amongst army comrades and the congregation of his local church in Nottinghamshire. Tom: I suddenly thought this is absolutely remarkable. When that kind of stuff came together, there was no question that my ambition to make this happen became more and I was super keen to get Hubert out there, Hubert Bell, which I think is quite a cool name and to see what happened. Tom: Good question because I have no idea about spirits. I’ve never worked in booze. I’ve had various jobs in the past, some incredibly brilliant and amazing and some less so good. This came about because I love having dinner parties. I always like people at the end of a dinner party to stay for an extra couple of hours to make sure, since we’re all together, that we make the most out of hanging out.

Tom: Thank you, Susan. That’s been great. Nice to see you. Don’t miss out on any Lush Life episodes! Whilst the gin category might be fit for bursting, the sight of a winter gin liqueur is rare indeed which makes the story behind the Reverend Hubert even more fascinating. If you are sitting comfortably then let me begin… It tasted all right. It was nice. So, the Christmas pudding comes out and I’ll bring it to the table and it’s lit and then we’re all doing shots. And that was when a couple of friends of mine who are not mad on liqueurs decided that this was quite good. And so, I went out to refine it, to try and make it into something better.Then he had a brilliant idea. Why not put his passion for gin to good use by creating a high-quality gin-based drink to help bring together his diverse community, as well as others, to buy and enjoy which could in turn raise money?

Moment of inspiration The recipe for Reverend Hubert winter gin liqueur comes straight from one of his old hip flasks that Tom Lester was handed down They may not be a mainstay on your bar trolley throughout the year, but as soon as November (...who are we kidding, October) arrives and Bublé makes his long-awaited return, we make a break for the festive liqueurs.Susan: Were you like, oh my God, I can’t believe that a relative of mine was making a spirit and I’m making the same spirit practically? To find the best liqueur, our panel of 10 WSET-trained experts and consumers tried 37 fun flavours from the leading supermarkets and brands. They were looking for a well-balanced, easy-drinking liqueur they’d be proud to serve at the end of a meal. All products were served chilled and blind to prevent brand bias. Susan: You just have to ask. People can always say no, but you just have to ask. Sometimes it works out with you and Fortnum Mason, how fabulous. So, they’ve got it in a glass case. It says Reverend Hubert Winter Gin Liqueur, come on and get it. How did it do? I think things are more serious now. We’ve got some investment in the business. There’s only so long that you could make 5,000 bottles demand, which is great. It’s too big for me to keep it up on my own. I need people to help me and to do that. I now have a responsibility to other people, which I love. We’ve got fun people involved, we’ve got the Duke of Norfolk, Eddy, who has invested in spirits before and who knows what he’s doing. He who brings cleverness and knowledge and fun to the party. That’s the experience that we’re going for. And we’ve got a garden gin version Fortnum and Mason would like me to make something else for them. Tom: I was doing that as well, and I think he was a big fan of Stanley, who doesn’t like Stanley, a legend! I think it amalgamates them together and it creates a kind of nice, a little bit of white foam on the top, which visually appealing. He’s the man, he’s doing it. Yeah. Good.

We make this Mince Pie and Marmalade liqueur, which has got my signature on the front, which I still find super weird. I mean, I used to have a proper job and now I’m just loving everything I do. Tom: What a huge learning experience, but it taught me also to understand the tastes and the flavors that you get. So, some people have got good palates and some less, but when you start, your brain and your palate start connecting together. What I mean by that is I could start telling the difference between six bits of orange in a bit of gin and leave it for two weeks and I could tell the difference. Tom: His recipe? He had two flasks, one of the recipes I couldn’t read very clearly, but it was from when he was in Egypt. So, one of his jobs was to guard the Sphinx. I’ve got photos of him in front of the Sphinx. Right. In his uniform and then I’ve got photos of him, kind of on a horse and the camel and all the rest of it. And so that recipe, you can see, raisins on there, right? You can see spices. I’m going to guess that those spices were the kind of spices we’re using now. Hence the kind of the amalgamation of the two if you want the two recipes. Then there is the gin, which is procured from the Wood Brothers distillery a premium “farm to bottle” gin and vodka distillery in Oxfordshire made to a tailor made recipe. Tom: Yeah. Then I got introduced to Joe and some people know Joe, so Joe has got the most amazing brain when it comes to processes and his palate is recognized as one of the best in the world. Joe is a guy who, when you meet him, you don’t forget him. He has got a ridiculous palate and a ridiculous knowledge of anything to do with alcohol or wine.It’s a fun label and it’s a fun drink. The label is fun. It’s meant to be fun. It’s a seriously well-made drink, but it is for fun. It’s meant to be for fun. It’s meant to be for celebrating, just like the Rev would have his parties. And that’s the label and the Rev coming together. Susan: Now a lot of people might not see it. But it’s very, very colorful. It’s like a stained-glass window with his face on it. So go on. Describe it for us.

Susan: It’s amazing with how many ingredients you’re talking about that it really only took six months to get what you wanted. Tom: Well, no, because Ollie Smith from Saturday kitchen, then says, right, to put it on the telly. This is mid-December a couple of years ago, and I don’t particularly know what to expect when it’s on TV. I call up friends in the business and they explained that it’s sometimes you can get some sales and sometimes you can’t. Many years later, the Reverend’s Great Grandson, Thomas Lester found his own passion for crafting liqueurs after taking inspiration from his honeymoon to the Amalfi coast. He began experimenting at home using locally foraged ingredients and shared the fruits of his labour at family gatherings. During one such event, Thomas’ aunt shared a beaten-up WWI hip flask along with the original recipe for Reverend Hubert’s Winter Gin Liqueur.Tom: And part of having these parties is that we all love a party, but also, it’s the excitement and the buildup and what wine am I going to choose? Right. That’s kind of the joy of doing these things. And so, on Christmas Day, one year I made a basic version of what is now the Winter Gin Liqueur and it was cloudy and gloopy.