Ed Garbett, Ed Garbett, Chase Distillery 

Distillery Manager still enjoying thrill of the Chase seven years on

When Edward Garbett first joined Chase Distillery as a tour guide, he didn’t immediately think he’d be the one producing the gin from the picturesque area of Herefordshire countryside.

But he is delighted with the route his career has taken, where he is now Distillery Manager at the business which is now a part of Diageo.

“I started off at Chase in early 2017 as a tour guide,” Edward explained.

“The opportunity arose to move into the distillery not long after that, after I’d pestered the then Head Distiller to employ me. The rest as they say, is history.

“I was immediately obsessed with spirits production, it gave me a wonderful opportunity to do something I truly loved and allowed me to continually develop and learn new skills and technical information – I just tried to absorb as much as I could.

“I threw myself into everything I could, both practical on the job and outside of work through the technical qualifications offered by the IBD & WSET.

“I had the benefit of working with some exceptionally talented individuals early on in my career and a fantastic distillery team that I learnt from and continue to learn a lot from to this day.”

Edward, and everyone involved at Chase Distillery, is incredibly proud of the produce available on their doorstep, from quality potatoes to fragrant elderflower, and influences on their drinks change and depend on what is growing locally at the time.

“We certainly are close to the agriculture of the UK from the potatoes we process to the fresh juice we use in our rhubarb and Bramley apple gin – they are all reliant on good harvests and growing conditions for their inherent quality.

“Being a site that ferments and distils its own neutral alcohol means that we are very much tied to those raw materials, and when you have challenging harvests such as the last two or three years for potatoes, it really does push us to innovate and extract consistent quality.

“Using quality local suppliers has always been a focus as our ingredients have never always come solely from the farm. When it comes to apples and rhubarb, we are certainly blessed in this country and it really shines through in our products.

“As well as the trusted suppliers from across the UK who deliver us high quality ingredients, we use some of the best botanicals from across the world.”

Edward said his top priority remains distilling, despite the extra obligations which come with his role.

He said: “At the end of the day all of the other responsibilities are rendered irrelevant if we don’t have a productive, safe and efficient distillery.

“I am exceptionally close to all our people, processes, liquid, and day to day operations. The rest of my role is to facilitate and support the team and the site to ensure that we are producing the best quality liquid, as safely and as efficiently as possible.”

Ed is slated to discuss safety at an upcoming Ginposium event run by The Gin Guild.

“For me and the team here at Chase, our number one focus is always to ensure that everything we do is firstly produced safely, and to the highest quality,” he said.

“The process safety support and resource we can draw on here at Diageo is second to none.

“It is also a hugely important thing for the Guild and its members to discuss process and behavioural safety openly and actively alongside the rest of the topics of our industry.

“Ginposium has had some fantastic speakers recently covering off process safety and its importance in distillation, and it its vital we keep that going over the years to come to support guild members and their employees in creating safe environments to work in to continue to produce their fantastic products.”

Edward has also praised The Gin Guild for getting like-minded people together, where he has met some of his self-confessed distilling idols.

“Ever since I joined the Guild, I have found it to be such an invaluable resource for networking and for the gin category overall,” he said.

“The Ginposium has been getting better and better every year with fantastic content delivered by engaging speakers on industry related topics that are relevant and current. Alongside this, the banquets are a great chance to catch up with industry peers.

“The Guild along with my work at Diageo has offered me great opportunities to meet and network with people I admire.

“In terms of heroes, I need not look much further than Terry Fraser, who is the master distiller looking after Tanqueray and Gordons and the gin brands at Diageo. He has forgotten more things than I will ever know about distilling I’m sure, and he has been a valuable and patient resource for myself and the team at Chase with his incredible wealth of knowledge.

“You only need to look around the room at one of the Guild’s events to see icons such as Lesley Gracie, Desmond Payne and Dr Anne Brock, who are also icons in the category with their achievements and knowledge.”