Sipping sustainably: A look inside Bombay Sapphire’s stunning UK distillery

Bombay Sapphire is known for its smooth gin and iconic blue bottle. But the popular spirit has also made a name for itself on the sustainability front, with a mission to become the world’s most sustainable global gin. Bombay Sapphire’s commitment to sustainability is reflected from botanical to bottle, bar, and beyond. Every drop of the famed, high-quality gin – which dates back to 1761 – is produced at Laverstoke Mill in Laverstoke, England. It opened for business in 2014 when the brand relocated operations from northern England.

With an agenda to discover more about the beloved gin brand straight from the source, I journeyed across the pond to check out the celebrated facility. Located about 87 kilometres from London, the distillery sits on the sprawling site of a former paper mill. It features beautifully restored brick Victorian and Edwardian buildings, with the trout-filled River Test flowing through them. These are juxtaposed by new modern elements, including two botanical-filled glass houses (more on those later). 

Hosting some 100,000 guests per year, Laverstoke Mill is open to the public for tours, sampling, and dining and produces gin 24 hours a day, 355 days a year (the team takes a break during the holiday season). On a rainy spring day, its greenery-filled and history-rich grounds offered a dreamy, storybook-type vibe. Here, in addition to cocktail and gin sipping – including some varieties poured from wall-mounted dispensers – we learned how Bombay Sapphire has pioneered sustainability in the spirits industry, with an impressive 360-degree approach. 

We’re greeted by Sam Carter, Senior Ambassador for Bombay Sapphire at Laverstoke Mill, who passionately leads the group on an informative and immersive journey filled with history, education, gin-sipping, and expertly created cocktails. 

“There were 56 buildings on the site when we bought it in 2010; now there are about 33,” says Carter of the property. “We took a lot of the derelict concrete buildings away. There were so many that they blanketed the river; it was covered by asbestos-covered buildings. There was so much industry on this site. But, we wanted the natural beauty of the site – including the river – to come through.” 

The legendary Ivano Tonutti, the Master of Botanicals for Bombay Sapphire, is responsible for sourcing each of the 10 individual botanical ingredients that flavour the gin directly from farmers around the world, says Carter, after a brief but detailed history of the brand. “He’s the only one who knows the exact proportions of the botanicals – the actual recipe is written down in a safe,” he says. “They are pre-weighed before they arrive here.”

Carter explains how Bombay Sapphire is the first global gin brand to have 10 of its botanical ingredients 100 per cent sustainably sourced, as certified by ECOCERT. These include juniper from Tuscany, coriander from Morocco, lemon peel from Spain, and cubeb berries from Java, all hand selected to create the gin’s vibrant and smooth-sipping flavour.

The ‘For Life’ certification awarded by ECOCERT, the world’s leading specialist in the certification of sustainable practices, recognizes the commitment of the brand to exclusively work with suppliers who act responsibly and ensure a sustainable future for farmers, their communities, and the environment. Each supplier is dedicated to improving the cultivation, harvesting, and sales of botanicals, says Carter. The Bombay Sapphire brand has closely collaborated with these growers, assisting in their growth and development, to produce the finest ingredients.

“We understand our responsibility extends beyond just sourcing the finest botanicals for our gin. We believe it is equally important to care about the people and communities behind the ingredients we use,” says James Fisher, Senior Brand Manager for Bombay Sapphire, who joined us on the tour. “By prioritizing sustainability and social responsibility, we’re able to give our consumers peace of mind that the ingredients in our gin are coming from organizations committed to continuous improvement.”

As Carter explains, the Laverstoke Mill is a zero-waste distillery. Nothing is thrown away, from the point of sourcing the botanicals to the rare vapour infusion distillation process. The facility’s design was rated ‘Outstanding’ by Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), the world’s leading environmental assessment for buildings. The building uses 100 per cent renewable energy. Mill’s zero-waste policy involves recycling used botanicals through anaerobic digestion to reduce carbon footprint and capture methane gas. The facility also harvests rainwater and uses solar panels. 

Finally, the multifaceted blue glass that holds Bombay Sapphire’s iconic gin is 100 per cent recyclable and made from one-third recycled glass with the bottle label and paper certified as sustainable by the Forestry Stewardship Council.

“It’s all of these elements that come together to make us one of the most sustainable distilleries in the world,” says Carter. “We’re not completely self-sustainable from an energy standpoint, but by 2030 we will be at net zero – 20 years before we are mandated to be by the government.”

Guests of the space are educated on the process of creating the iconic gin through a video in a blue-hued cinema space. Once this ends, the sliding doors behind the screen open to reveal two architectural masterpieces. The stars of the show at The Laverstoke Mill – aside from the gin itself, of course – are these two intricate and modern glass houses designed by famed architect Thomas Heatherwick.

“Bombay has always been about that juxtaposition between old and new,” says Carter of the contrast between the distillery’s design elements. With their signature curves, these eye-catching and intricately-designed structures were created in Barcelona and are made from hundreds of glass panels. They follow the same design language as London’s new double-decker buses, also designed by Heatherwick. “They sort of resemble a still, with gin pouring into the river,” says Carter of the structures.

They house all 10 Bombay Sapphire botanicals – juniper, lemon peel, grains of paradise, coriander, cubeb berries, orris root, almonds, cassia bark, licorice, and angelica – on display for guests to experience themselves, but are not used in the actual distillation process due to quantity issues. “This is just to demonstrate how they grow in their natural climates,” says Carter. 

After stepping inside the lush-smelling structures, which rely on excess heat from the mill to grow the botanicals, we learned about the specific layering process of Bombay Sapphire’s botanicals. Their natural flavours are captured through a delicate distillation process called vapour infusion that dates back to 1831, explains Dr. Anne Brock, Bombay Sapphire’s Master Distiller, on an exclusive tour of the production space. Instead of being boiled in the still like most gins, the botanicals are meticulously layered in perforated baskets and held in the air above the spirits during distillation. As the heated spirit vapours rise, they’re gently infused with all the rich aromatic flavours of the botanicals.

Brock says that vapour infusion produces a fresher expression of the botanicals in the gin compared to traditional methods of gin production.

The distillery’s botanicals don’t just flavour the gin. Once dried, they are burned with sustainably sourced woodchips in a biomass boiler, which provides the distillery with energy. Furthermore, the resulting ash is used as fertilizer for local farms. 

The distillery offers a variety of experiences for guests to choose from and houses a cafe and gift shop. For the gin-lovers, a visit here and to the local countryside is a no-fail day or weekend trip to tack on to a visit to London. Cheers!