Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Ireland’s only Gin School: the Listoke Gin Distillery & Gin School. The Gin school is near Drogheda where I had the opportunity to distill my very own gin under the helpful guidance of the Listoke staff.

Gin School

When arriving at the gin school, I was given a glass of one of the tastest gin and tonics with a lively citrus taste. The smell of the gin was as wonderful as it tasted.

To kick off the tour, we were given a tour of the distillery and information on how Listoke distils their gins.

The next step of the gin school was to figure out what your preferred gin is with a few gin samples. This helped in trying to figure out what type of gin one would like to make.

Visitors were shown all the essential ingredients which would need to be distilled in the gin base, as well as the different groups of ingredients which can be added into the gin: florals, spices, and citruses.

During the selection of ingredients, there is a lot of fun in smelling each ingredient, consideration into each and the final decision whether or not to include the ingredient in one’s bucket for distilling. The ingredients are all weighed and measured in their recommended portions.

Once everyone has chosen their ingredients, the distilling can begin!

Each person is set up with a pot-still and shown how to distil their gin with their bucket of chosen ingredients.

While waiting for the gin to distil, more delicious gin is distributed. We were all spoilt with some local meats, cheeses, and snacks while waiting for our gin to distil.

With our bellies full, the gin finished distilling, we were assisted in perfecting our gin’s alcohol volume and pouring the gin into a bottle. We were all given the distinctive Listoke stickers at the back of our bottles!

Bottles sealed and signed, we had the pleasure of taking our own gin bottles home.

What a great experience! I couldn’t compliment Listoke enough for this wonderful tour.