Reverend Hubert Winter Gin Liqueur - 50cl, 27% ABV | Premium Alcoholic Drink Made with Natural Real Fruit | A Gin Liqueur Handmade in the UK | Perfect with Prosecco | Ideal for Gifts & Parties

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I know where to go in the world to find the perfect style of a certain type of fruit. Like Serbia and its plums.” Hubert was strong willed and resourceful; despite his family’s objections he gave up all his privileges and chose another way, following his desire to help those less fortunate than himself. Tom: Good question because I have no idea about spirits. I’ve never worked in booze. I’ve had various jobs in the past, some incredibly brilliant and amazing and some less so good. This came about because I love having dinner parties. I always like people at the end of a dinner party to stay for an extra couple of hours to make sure, since we’re all together, that we make the most out of hanging out. It’s a fun label and it’s a fun drink. The label is fun. It’s meant to be fun. It’s a seriously well-made drink, but it is for fun. It’s meant to be for fun. It’s meant to be for celebrating, just like the Rev would have his parties. And that’s the label and the Rev coming together. Susan: So, you got the label, you got the bottle, it’s a great looking bottle and you’re making it, by the way. Where do you make it?

Susan: So, you’re at dinner with your aunt and she says, here’s a flask. And you said, whose flask is this? I never knew. I wish I had known him we came together then for me to make a Fortnum and Mason Mince Pie and Marmalade liqueur: so, the Mince Pie-ness of the Reverend Winter is there. I love marmalade. So, we had a chat and said, well, that might be a dumb idea, but how about we make this? TASTING NOTES: Our gold award-winning Winter Gin Liqueur is distinctive, original, balanced, & smooth. Bursting with aromatic notes of dried fruit, winter spices from Sri Lanka and the freshest orange & lemon zest from the Amalfi coast. We make this Mince Pie and Marmalade liqueur, which has got my signature on the front, which I still find super weird. I mean, I used to have a proper job and now I’m just loving everything I do.All of this took place in October 2019 when it was too late to actually get into trade to hit the winter spirits and liqueur market. Now some nearly 120 years later Tom Lester has decided to give it a second life and created a 2020 version of the winter gin liqueur recipe – that so requires every ingredient to be sourced, peeled and squeezed by hand.

Susan: I’m so excited to have you here. It was so great to meet you last year. I’ve wanted to have you on the show for so long. And now of course, winter is here and since you make a winter liqueur, it was time. Where did this idea even come from? Sweet and oh-so-indulgent, liqueurs are the perfect end to any meal. Typically, they will have a lower ABV of around 15-20% (as opposed to a straight spirit such as gin, which will be upwards of 40%), making them ideal drunk neat or over ice.

He certainly was not looking to make his life any easier, but such was his determination to get as close to his ancestor’s original recipe it meant going the extra mile to get the ingredients just right.

OUR STORY: Originally made in the vicarage in 1904 by Reverend Hubert Bell Lester for his congregation’s Christmas party; the recipe has been recreated and improved by his great-grandson Thomas.

Tom: The label came about because I read articles about him. During one of the wars, the Belgian refugees came to England and he was at the time based near Nottingham. They shifted them away from London as, as they did. One of the things that he did, which just remained in my mind was to go round, no one had any money or anything, but he used to collect eggs. I think by the time we left the restaurant in the early hours or the late hours of the evening, I think then, we thought there could be something, but it’s all very well and good saying. Right. Okay. We’ve got something. What do we do next? What happened next was pivotal. I got introduced to Fairfax from Sipsmith who very kindly gave me two hours. Susan: Exactly. It was the Negroni that was heard around the world. Now I always leave my guests asking them one question, which is, if you could be drinking anything anywhere right now, where would that be? And what would it be? Susan: Absolutely, just one caveat. Do not shake champagne. Do not shake champagne and anything with bubbles. Also, as we all learned, you don’t just have to stir a Negroni. We learned that last year with our dear friend Stanley Tucci who shook his Negroni all over the place.

Tom: I was doing that as well, and I think he was a big fan of Stanley, who doesn’t like Stanley, a legend! I think it amalgamates them together and it creates a kind of nice, a little bit of white foam on the top, which visually appealing. He’s the man, he’s doing it. Yeah. Good. Tom: Yeah. Yeah. He was nervous. When I met Joe for lunch it was clear, first of all, within one minute that we were going to be friends and get on. I think Joe is not a person who is going to do something by halves and unless he thinks it’s a good idea. So, when we’re meeting for lunch, I was probably just looking forward to a nice lunch and where’s it going to go? We even ground our own spices. It was an incredible number of man hours, and we are still learning how to make it now, still adjusting and adapting.” Then he had a brilliant idea. Why not put his passion for gin to good use by creating a high-quality gin-based drink to help bring together his diverse community, as well as others, to buy and enjoy which could in turn raise money?The brief was very much to bring out the cheeky, glint in his eye, friendly, warm personality of Reverend Hubert. Look closely and you can see a halo around only half his head, to signify he was a man of cloth, but who also knew how to have a good time at the same time. They may not be a mainstay on your bar trolley throughout the year, but as soon as November (...who are we kidding, October) arrives and Bublé makes his long-awaited return, we make a break for the festive liqueurs.