The majority of craft gin distillers in the UK have treated the journey as a second career. They wake up one morning, look in the mirror, and see a gin distiller staring back at them. They ditch the ties or the heels and start thinking about botanicals.

While it’s hard thinking of an exception to this, there is one and he’s located just down the A4155 from Henley on Thames – voted by The Times as one of the best places to live in the country.

At 27, master distiller Jacob Wilson has won awards with The Henley Distillery, blown his five-year business plan out of the water in about six months, and is living the gin life the rest of us can only dream about. 

So, at this point you’re wondering the same as us, how did he do this? We set out on a beautiful spring morning to bring you back the answers.