Assay

The Sheffield Distillery is based on the banks of the Blackburn Brook River in Chapeltown, to the North of the city. It's also sited in the car park of The Commercial Pub, a fantastic boozer with an vast range of whiskies and gin that host tasting events almost every week. Manager Paul Harrison and his team - along with several of his regular customers - decided that they'd venture into making spirits themselves, and in 2017 distillation began. Paul and his father Keith dedicated research time reading up on the full processes involved rather than diving head on, to ensure that they hit the ground running in producing a richly textured spirit that would be the base for a selection of flavoured spirits using local natural produce, with a strict rule of non chill-filtration. A whisky is on the cards, but in the meantime the Assay gins and vodkas (named after the 5 offices across UK that certify quality of precious metals, for which Sheffield is so well-known) are more than providing a great reputation. Paul himself even suffered second-degree burns after the still set alight in May of 2019, resulting in him being put in a coma for 2 weeks to aid recovery. He was quickly back at work, determined not to let the incident set production back.

Paul disappointed me when he told me exactly how the Rhubarb & Custard gin was produced, as I had continual mental images of him pouring Bird's Custard powder into a still. Sadly this isn't the case - the custard element is achieved by the use of fresh Madagascan vanilla pods. This is actually more of a compound/bathtub gin as it's a base of both the Assay London Dry Gin married with Assay Liquorice Gin, before macerating the vanilla pods and freshly cooked rhubarb from the Rhubarb Triangle for 48 hours. It still blows my mind that Paul managed to achieve a flavour that isn't cloying sweet but retains a clear custard-y flavour. If you liked those pink-and-yellow rhubarb and custard hard sweets that you could get at pick-n-mix counters, this will be right up your street. And there's also a lovely spiciness coming through from the base gins, which really elevate the complecity.