Production begins in the field. Saunders buys in wheat from an English maltster, which he mills, mashes and brews into a high sugar wort. Then he adds yeast and ferments into around a 10% wheat beer. This is then pot distilled up to a 30% low wine before being put through Doghouse Distillery’s rectification column where it transfers into a high purity vodka. In this speedy 60 second interview, we caught up with him to find out just how fast things are moving for the team and how his unique, anti-hero style brand is captivating the attention of many, especially ourselves! Gin Foundry: You have a full year under your belt now. Congrats! What’s it been like living in the eye of the storm? Finish: Dry and a little peppery at first, the finish then develops with plenty of aromatic baking spices, fennel, more liquorice and a sweet hint of angelica.

Doghouse Distillery was founded by husband and wife team, Braden and Katherine Saunders in 2016. Prior to building a distillery, Braden and Katherine owned a successful craft beer pub in Australia (where Braden hails from) and it was Braden who first developed an interest in production while visiting the States.

Bordeaux and Burgundy

Explaining his venture into gin production, Saunders said: “I ran a pub with my wife in Australia that specialised in micro-brewed craft beer. I learnt to brew when we made colab beers with local breweries and really enjoyed the manufacturing process. It wasn’t enough to just have good beer, though, so I started working on building an amazing selection of great boutique wines and also spirits. Made with 14 botanicals including a good amount of juniper and lots of leafy green herbs, Renegade has an incredible aroma, herbaceous and piney on the palate and has a smooth and lingering finish. The Doghouse team are not fans of following the traditional route in distilling (or life), and Renegade Gin is contemporary on all levels. 'Renegade (n) - a person who behaves in a rebelliously unconventional manner'. If we were to make spirits uniquely Hawkshead, how would we do it? We’ve had a lot of fun experimenting with a variety of different combinations of beer, casks and base spirits, and are really happy with the final result. This badass gin is insanely sessionable, deliciously herbaceous and piney, with a smooth, lingering finish. What followed was a struggle in which Gabriel lobbied to make his gin, arguing that there was historical precedent for this act. Extensive research uncovered that historically gin was produced in pot stills over a naked flame, which is exactly how Cognac pot stills were designed. “I don’t know about you but when I am pissed at something I work even harder! France is a very bureaucratic country. I was told there’s no rule that allows me to do this, but I was much younger and rebellious in nature and I said there’s no rule that says I cannot”, he said. Eventually, “after five long years, I finally received the AOC approval to distil gin in Cognac in 1995!”

Overall: A complex, intriguing and well-integrated gin that does a particularly good job of balancing floral and spicy notes. We are thrilled to launch the Jawbox Giant’s Edition,” Jawbox founder Gerry White said. “Our brand is inspired by the magnificent industrial era when ordinary men and women put Belfast on the map for hard graft and craft. While we remain committed to bottling our drinks, we foresee cans becoming a key part of our offering this summer and beyond.”So how to use Citadelle Gin? Gabriel has a few thoughts: “I love a G&T and with Citadelle it’s incredible, but my little sin is actually a Gin Reserve with just a glassful of dry Curaçao,” he says. “Not the blue stuff, we make an original curacao made with real orange. I also love a gin martini with a great vermouth like Dolin and of course I love a French 75”. My advice would be to explore and experiment. It’s what Alexandre Gabriel would do. The infusion process lasts three to four days, during which the botanicals are added in successive steps while the degree of alcohol diminishes. “We lower the ABV with pure water, the same water that we use to bring down the ABV for Cognac, in which all the mineral elements have been eliminated through the reverse osmosis process. At the end, once the 19 botanicals have been infused, the ABV is about 30-35%. We set 20% of the infused spirit aside before sending it to the distillery and we infuse three extra botanicals, yuzu, cornflower and genepi from the Alps,” Gabriel says. “We then take the infused spirit to the distillery and we distil. Since the spirit has already been distilled at least three times, we only have to do one distillation. We do not keep the heads, we keep the heart and a large part of the seconds as well”. It is the only “grain to glass” gin produced in London and one of a handful in the whole of the UK. They are not fans of following the traditional route in distilling (or life), and Renegade is contemporary on all levels. It is the only "grain to glass" gin produced in London and one of a handful in the whole of the UK. We are not fans of following the traditional route in distilling (or life), and Renegade is contemporary on all levels. We cast our MoM-branded spotlight on Citadelle Gin , an expression created at a Cognac house, that predates the craft gin boom. Its founder Alexandre Gabriel explains why he created a gin in the first place, the 18th-century recipe he based it on and his patented brand of gin distillation.

A handful of the botanicals (no doubt the hardier, more standard ones) are left to macerate overnight in the base vodka, then in the morning the rest of the ingredients are added in and the still is switched on. The distillation run is a long, slow eight hours, producing somewhere between 2,500 and 3,500 bottles (once cut down to bottling strength of 42%) at a time. Renegade Gin to taste… That grainy base is there, albeit in a very clean, almost tropical form. There’s a huge, green leafiness to the gin overall, with hints of sage and something ever so slightly mentholic tugging at the nostrils.The LIVE virtual tastings are carried out in the last week of the month. Please keep an eye on our socials for confirmed dates! The barrels have added a distinctive and unique flavour to the gin, whisky, rum and vodka respectively. Once you have done your budget and timeline, triple it! Do you feel like people are starting to really understand the grain to glass ethos you guys have?