Ian McCulloch, Silent Pool Gin

The words ‘English Gin’ are at the heart of the Silent Pool Distillers brand, but this is not the England of bowler hats and tweed jackets: it has a far more contemporary feel.

The location of the Silent Pool distillery couldn’t be more quintessentially English. Deep in the Surrey Hills on the Duke of Northumberland’s breath-taking Albury Estate, the spring-fed Silent Pool was the perfect spot for founder and MD Ian McCulloch to establish his business.

Ian said: “A lot of Scottish distillers have a fantastic palette to draw from when making and marketing their gins; stormy seas, clear skies, rolling mountains, granite, moorland smells. We wanted the English equivalent.”

Ian knew a thing or two about brand marketing after a near-30-year stint as Commercial Director for ITV and a spell as a media advisor. He decided gin would be his future after witnessing the creativity of Scottish brands.

He said: “I met co-founder James Shelbourne who happened to be in Guildford, near where I lived, through a mutual friend at Global Brands.”

“James knew a lot about marketing and distribution, so we talked about whether there was a gap for high-end English gin inspired by contemporary England.”

The marketing focus meant Ian could already picture what the business’ premises would look like, so he got in touch with Northumberland Estates’ property arm to describe what he had in mind.

Ian laughed: “I asked for something with a log cabin, veranda, lake, chimney, classic back-country stuff. Fortunately, the estate had a beautiful disused milking shed and various dilapidated farm structures adjacent to the Silent Pool.

We asked to rent them and Northumberland Estates was very good in helping us convert them into functioning buildings.”

After spending months experimenting with different distillates, Silent Pool Distillers developed a unique four-stage process for its balanced approach to gin making.

It begins with base botanicals such as Bosnian juniper berries, liquorice root and cassia bark being steeped in a Holstein still for 24 hours, while a basket of fruits including lime peels and oranges are hung in its neck.

Ian continued: “Delicate botanicals that won’t survive the distilling process, such as rose petals and elderflower, are then steeped in neutral grain alcohol for 24 hours to make a ‘tea’. This strips their oils and aromatic compounds without the negative flavours, and this is are also added to the pot.

“Finally, the spirit is carefully put through a multi-chambered fractioning column, resulting in a perfectly balanced spirit.”

Breweries far outnumber distilleries in Surrey, so after launching Silent Pool Gin Ian found local residents couldn’t get enough of the intriguing new drink.

Ian remembered: “We really got caught out when we started. We sold out very quickly and were struggling to meet demand. “Brewing is largely farm-based while distilling is more like alchemy, which is something the community wasn’t used to and was excited to try.”

Surrey’s love for Silent Pool Gin grew rapidly, bolstered by the company becoming a significant local employer and sponsor of local charities and music festivals.

Silent Pool Distillers’ innovation both in brand and product saw the business take Gold at the Spirits Business Gin Masters 2019, a win Ian attributes to judges seeing more than just the bottle in front of them.

He said: “You’ve got to become visible. That includes strong marketing and advertising but also getting involved with your audience.”

Listings in major UK retailers including Waitrose and GTR followed, as did exports to 45 countries. The team were awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade in 2022.

Activations and partnerships with Royal Ascot, Jo Malone London, Keff, Ettinger and the Chelsea Flower Show have helped secure Silent Pool Gin’s position as an ultra premium serve of uncompromising quality, as have the highly successful launches of the Silent Pool Gin Expressions range and their highly distinctive Black Juniper Gin.

But the distillers have never forgotten their roots in the Surrey countryside. Every bottle of gin continues to be produced at the distillery by the Silent Pool, where award-winning distillery tours give visitors a deep dive into the world of Silent Pool Gin.

Ian said: “Transparency is really important to our business. Our distillery is at the heart of our brand and we want people to get on-site and become a part of it.”

Whether it’s innovative gin production or marketing ideas, it seems Silent Pool Distillers has explored every avenue to make its brand distinct.