Unit 15, Stirlin Business Park, 185 Sadler Road, Lincoln , Lincolnshire, LN6 3AF, UK
Bandsman Gin Remarkable brass bands
Bandsman Gin Remarkable brass bands
About Us
Based in the historic city of Lincoln, The Gentlemen Distillers Ltd is a small family-based company simply wanting to make good gin and do our best to support other local businesses.
The Gentlemen Distillers Ltd was formed in 2018 from a desire to make something we could be proud of and call our own. A year later we released our first product: Bandsman British Gin, in July of 2019 and have not looked back since.
All of us at the Gentlemen Distillers Ltd are or have been musicians playing in brass bands and concert bands, or are strong supporters of community music initiatives. Most of our friends come from banding and it has certainly shaped our lives.
Being part of a band is like having a second family: there is no room for one-upmanship or treading on other people’s toes, everyone has their own part to play and it is important that that part goes in just right. The same goes for gin making in that everything has to be balanced just right to create the perfect harmony of flavours.
In four years we released four gins which make up The Bandsman Ensemble of gins, as well as two gins supporting charitable causes. Now we are looking ahead to other new concepts. Keep an eye out for whatever might come next!
Our head distiller James doing what he does best, and his long suffering (and recently married!) wife Shelby: the engine room of the company.
Bandsman Gin Remarkable brass bands
The production room inside Gentlemen Distillers HQ: the beating heart of the distillery.
The Bandsman Ensemble
Dedicated to musicians of all genres and abilities: The Bandsman Gin Ensemble explores four highly contrasting styles of gin: Cold Compounded, London Dry, Pink, and Winter Liqueur.
Meet the Band
Bandsman British Gin
Bandsman Gin Remarkable brass bands
Our original gin launched in 2019 which has served as the stepping off point for everything that followed.
Hitting all the right notes
All of us at the Gentlemen Distillers Ltd are or have been musicians playing in brass bands and concert bands. Most of our friends come from banding and it has certainly shaped our lives. Being part of a band is like having a second family, there is no room for one-upmanship or treading on other people’s toes, everyone has their own part to play and it is important that that part goes in just right. The same goes for gin making in that everything has to be balanced just right to create the perfect harmony of flavours.
Whether it is a brass band playing at a village fête, an orchestra performing at a proms concert, or a military band marching down the street: making great music to fit any occasion is a British institution and what better way to celebrate these symbols of national pride than with a crisp gin and tonic in hand?
Bandsman Gin is not a London Dry, indeed it is not technically a redistilled gin at all. We use a very old method known as cold compounding to create our gin. While most gin production sees the spirit evaporated and passed through a filter containing the botanicals in order to flavour the vapour before recondensing it, our method involves flavouring the spirit in its liquid form with a combination of fresh and dried botanicals.
This allows us to create a robustly flavoured gin with an unusual smoothness to it. A byproduct of this is Bandsman’s striking pale lemon colour so if you are surprised when you first pour your first glass of Bandsman, don’t worry, it isn’t meant to be completely clear!
We have poured our pride and love into Bandsman Gin to create a crisp, fresh tasting spirit with strong juniper overtones harkening back to the original genever brought over partly by Dutch sailors hundreds of years ago. Elderflower from Belvoir Fruit Farms gives a delightful sweetness to the palate and compliments our unusual ingredient of fresh British tomatoes which hands a smooth, almost creamy taste to the gin allowing it to be enjoyed with a variety of mixers.
Talk of mixers brings us to the signature serve of Bandsman Gin:
Whatever you fancy!
We feel that Bandsman is a very versatile gin that can be enjoyed with tonic, lemonade, ginger ale, or just on its own with some ice. If you like your G&T with a slice of lemon, then have it with a slice of lemon. If you just want a drink after a long day at work then pour a slug of Bandsman into your favourite glass, top it up with tonic, and you have a good, honest gin and tonic that will do you proud.
Bandmaster London Dry Gin
Bandsman Gin Remarkable brass bands
Our first foray into distilled gins: Bandmaster is inspired by Bandsman but stands alone as an excellent London Dry.
Bandsman gets a promotion!
A Bandmaster is usually the conductor or director of the band: a musician who has dedicated themselves to achieving perfection in their music, and will settle for nothing less than the very best. We have applied these ruggedly high standards to our newest creation: Bandmaster London Dry Gin.
We spent seven months redeveloping our original Bandsman recipe into something that when redistilled through our handmade copper pot still becomes a crisp, herbaceous drink which is still reminiscent of Bandsman while standing apart as its own style of gin.
Distilled in small batches of one hundred bottles per batch, Bandmaster is a much more hands on product and has proven extremely popular since its release in October 2020.
Perfect as a simple G&T, or as it says on the bottle: However you fancy!
Bandsman Proms Pink Gin
Bandsman Gin Remarkable brass bands
Launched as bands were able to perform in public again after over a year off, Proms Pink is a fruity summer tipple that remembers its routes as a proper gin.
The perfect summer tipple!
Launched just in time for summer 2021, Bandsman Proms Pink takes its inspiration from the basic recipe we use in Bandsmaster London Dry Gin. Along with a few subtler changes we add pink peppercorns into the mix along with rose and hibiscus petals suspended in a botanical basket above the liquid in our copper pot still.
This results in a clear London Dry gin which already tastes smooth and floral. We then add succulent British Raspberries and more rose petals to give it a beautifully fruity taste without being too sweet, along with a striking pink colour without the use of anything artificial.
Perfect as a long drink with either tonic or lemonade and plenty of ice, or as it says on the bottle: However you fancy!
Bandsman Carollers’ Reserve Winter Gin Liqueur
Bandsman Gin Remarkable brass bands
Created using sloes, damsons, and honey all sourced either locally or through good friends, Carollers’ Reserve is the perfect companion for those cold winter nights.
The perfect winter companion
Sometimes it’s just a bit cold for a gin and tonic and you need something guaranteed to warm your cockles and guard you against the winter chill.
Bandsman Gin Carollers’ Reserve is a winter gin liqueur made using sloes picked from the fertile lands near the River Trent, damsons from a brass banding family in the wilds of the Staffordshire Moorlands, and honey from apiaries in the village of Doddington mere miles from our distillery itself all blended expertly with a variation of our original Bandsman Gin to bring you a special twist on sloe and damson gins of old.
So whether you are out carolling on Christmas Eve, sat curled up in front of a roaring fire, or out for that first walk after fresh snowfall: Carollers’ Reserve will prove the perfect companion.
Because of its seasonal nature, Carollers’ Reserve is only released from around November to March each year so keep an eye out for this year’s release!
Recommended serve? Keep it simple with this one, it’s perfect as it is.
Bandsman Gin Remarkable brass bands
