Pleasant Land Distillery.
We are partnering up with an exciting new project that we think reflects the Butler's ethos perfectly. Based in Kent, Pleasant Land are the first sustainable contract distillery. They are a family run business that prioritise authenticity and quality in all of their products. Their founder and CEO Seb was formerly in the Royal Navy but in a sharp career turn has spent the last 7 years learning everything he can about wine and spirits, gaining experience in Austria, South Africa and London before finally settling in Kent.
The thing we love most about them is their serious commitment to environmental sustainability without cutting any corners. Since it’s inception the distillery has implemented sustainable processes such as solar-powered stills, biomass-powered steam boilers and circular rainwater systems. They have designed and built their own unique systems which have reduced impact on the environment, and therefore clients' impact, to almost zero.
A few of the most notable aspects of their sustainability initiative are;
- Water usage is carefully managed through rainwater capture, alongside a bespoke closed-loop cooling system.
- All electricity and steam is created by 100% renewable sources, solar panels on the barn roof, alongside a customised biomass boiler.
- Waste from the distilling process is used for a variety of different purposes. The gin stillage is fermented and acts as a liquid compost improver, and spent grains are used for local animal feed.
- Suppliers are carefully selected to reflect and support their ethical business practices, and they also offer a great alternative solution to disposing of otherwise unwanted fruits.
If it wasn’t enough to be leading the way with innovative planet saving initiatives their products are also fantastic!
We have got in early on some of our personal faves that will be available for pre-order
This is a handmade, small batch distilled gin made on a small pot and column hybrid Muller still ‘Brunhilda' with foraged botanicals including sea buckthorn berries, samphire, kelp, elderflower and orange blossom, with a tiny touch of sea salt added at bottling. Inspired by a summer walk along the iconic White Cliffs that line the south east coast of England, it is very much a traditional juniper led gin but with a touch of sea spray and a summery citrus blossom scent. Bottled plastic-free in 100% recycled glass with a home compostable stopper. £1 will be donated to Raystede centre for animal welfare for every bottle sold.
This is a unique vodka made entirely from Gala and Braeburn apples grown just outside Canterbury. The apples are crushed whole, seeds removed, then fermented with all of the juice, pulp and skins plus a little water and a touch of Champagne yeast. This ferment is then distilled on a small American Carter head column still ‘Mary-Ellen Carter’ and bottled plastic-free in 100% recycled glass with a home-compostable stopper. A crisp clean vodka with a beautiful green apple flavour that is wonderfully balanced. A great addition to cocktails or for sipping over ice.
A first for any producer in the UK, this is a 100% natural Amaretto made from Kent grown apricot stones (bitter almonds) grain spirit, and hand-made caramel. Because they have used fresh bitter almonds with a little of the apricot fruit still attached, this has a wonderful balance of sweetness, delicious marzipan flavour and a little zing of fresh ripe apricot. Absolutely delicious! Bottled in recycled ‘apothecary style’ brown glass with a recycled (and recyclable) PET closure.
Noccino is a traditional Italian liqueur made from green walnuts, this style is made with an early crop of delicious green walnuts grown on the Kent Downs last summer. The walnuts were macerated in grain spirit for around five months to extract all their delicious flavours before home made caramel is added to sweeten the liqueur. The resulting Noccino is a gorgeous balance of sweet caramel notes and lingering walnut flavours with that classic touch of ‘amaro’ bitter making it a perfect digestif or addition to a cocktail. Bottled in recycled ‘apothecary style’ brown glass with a recycled (and recyclable) PET closure.
In an attempt to curb the wasteful practices of supermarkets and shops when it comes to fruit, Pleasant Land have decided to create a range of top tier single varietal Eau de Vie. The fruit had been destined for supermarkets and farmers markets but was declined due to being too big, too small or, in one bizarre case, too pink, so they purchased the fruit, giving the farmers reason to employ someone to pick it, saving it from being wasted. It was then preserved indefinitely by transforming it into eau de vie. These are un-aged fruit brandies created to capture the aroma and flavour of the fruit in a pure, concentrated form. It takes 30 to 50Kg of fruit to make one bottle of spirit which is naturally fermented then distilled twice on our small hybrid pot and column still. So far they have created an Apricot, Victoria Plum and Damson eau de vie, all made entirely from locally grown fruit.
Photo Credit: @apartphotgraphy
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