Initially setting out to become a doctor and now in charge of the fastest growing premium gin brand in the world, Dr Anne Brock is the master distiller at Bombay Sapphire but the guardian of the Hampshire-based distillery simply takes it all in her stride.
I’ve got the best job in the world!” beams Anne Brock.
It has been more than a year since the global pandemic struck. A period that can be defined by uncertainty, ever-changing restrictions and challenging conditions, regardless of your profession.
But for Brock, the master distiller at Hampshire’s Bombay Sapphire, she is only looking back on this time with a sense of pride.
“The first lockdown was especially challenging,” she recalls. “But we got through it and that’s thanks to our fantastic team we have here and the incredible network of support I had through Barcadi’s operations.
“As a result we managed to produce all of the gin we needed to and more.”
While hospitality continues to reopen, Bombay Sapphire has once again opened its doors to a wealth of visitors eager to enjoy a tour and a gin-based cocktail at its picturesque Laverstoke Mill home in Winchester.
And, in the form of Anne Brock, the guardian of Bombay Sapphire, those lucky patrons are in very safe hands indeed. But before the wonderful world of gin came calling, Brock has envisioned becoming a doctor and to work for Médecins Sans Frontières.
However, it swiftly became clear that it simply wasn’t the right time for her to pursue this path so Brock would depart medical school. Upon leaving education she combined roles in hospitality with travelling before eventually returning to university, securing a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Oxford.
It wasn’t long before a friend suggested that she should potentially pursue a role in distilling, something that would be the perfect marriage of her chemistry knowledge and expertise in hospitality.
So she did just that.
The, now, doctor would become the lead distiller at Bermondsey Distillery in London before taking on the prestigious title of master distiller at Bombay Sapphire in 2017.
Little more than two years later, Anne Brock was installed as the first female head of The Gin Guild, the industry body that celebrating excellence in the distillation and worldwide promotion of the spirit.
Speaking at the time Nicholas Cook, director general of The Gin Guild, said: “There is a strong historical tradition of women distillers and female Master Distillers are adding the variety and innovation that is fuelling the continuing global success of gin.
“We are delighted to welcome Anne as The Gin Guild’s fourth – and first female – Grand Rectifier, to continue the work of her predecessors in bringing together craft distillers, brand leaders and all those involved in the industry around the world to share knowledge and promote excellence in the category.”
And in her role at Bombay Sapphire, Brock continues to excel. Evidenced in figures released last year which revealed that Bombay Sapphire was the fastest growing premium gin brand in the world, reporting a 7.9 percent increase to 4.7m cases in 2019.
“It is why I love gin so much, if you have a prominent flavour of juniper you can be a creative as you like,” Dr Anne Brock, Bombay Sapphire.
Leading her team of distillers, Brock works with Ivano Tonutti, the master of botanicals for Bombay Sapphire, who has been responsible for sourcing each of the 10 individual botanical ingredients for more than a decade.
Tonutti works alongside the growers to ensure that the distillery gets the best quality crop each year. The flavour of the gin comes from these botanicals so any changes in harvest can affect the gin that is made at Laverstoke Mill.
Brock explains: “Ivano and his team work tirelessly to ensure that we see very minimal changes in the quality and taste profile of the batches of botanicals we receive at the distillery.
“Once they are put into the still then my distillers are trained to nose and taste the gin as it is made, this constant monitoring allows us to notice any differences in the spirit and adjust the distillation if needed.
“Finally, I nose and taste each batch and can blend different batches together so that every bottle of Bombay Sapphire that reaches our consumers tastes exactly as they would expect. It is not an easy job, but it is very satisfying!”
And with that aforementioned, unprecedented, year hopefully behind us, Brock is more than keen to get back to her job of focusing on making excellent gins that are enjoyed the world over by millions.
“The post-pandemic world cannot come soon enough for me!” she says. “It has been amazing to see how people have adapted over the past year and how that has driven trends in the gin world.
“And whilst we have seen people becoming more confident in making great drinks at home and being a bit more creative in the way they use their favourite spirits I think that everyone, myself included, cannot wait until they can go back to the bars and restaurants they love and have the experts make drinks for them,” she says.
“These at-home cocktail making skills will not be lost, but they will not replace the brilliant pubs, restaurants, and bars that we have all missed so much.”
But the team at Bombay Sapphire aren’t simply resting on their laurels when it comes to pubs, bars and restaurants reopening, instead focusing on new product innovations such as Sunset.
Sunset is a limited edition expression inspired by the delicate warmth and golden orange glow of the setting sun, Bombay Sapphire Sunset adds Indian white cardamom, turmeric and Murcian sun-dried mandarin peel to create a softly spiced flavour profile with a background hit of bittersweet citrus.
Product innovation is of particular importance especially, as Brock says, in a constantly changing gin space.
She explains: “We see so many innovations and new releases monthly driven by a consumer ap-preciation of all things gin. It is why I love gin so much, if you have a prominent flavour of juniper you can be a creative as you like.
“As an industry we do need to make sure that all the products that are claiming to be ‘GIN’ comply with the definition of what a gin is to protect this glorious spirit whilst continuing to recruit new con-sumers into the space.”
She adds: At Bombay Sapphire, we are constantly exploring new innovations in the category to best serve our trend-savvy consumers and we know that innovation is a key driver of performance.
“At the moment, key trends which are driving growth include new flavour expressions occasions to enjoy super-premium products (our Bombay Bramble launch played into this trend – a new gin bursting with the 100 percent natural flavour of freshly harvested blackberries and raspberries), and a need for convenience without compromise, as demonstrated by the booming RTD category.”
And Brock says that RTDs are here to stay – drinks that are experiencing extraordinary growth in all markets, and we can expect more to come.
“IWSR predicts the category to grow 32% in the next four years, which means it will be worth £350m by 2024,” she explains. “They are no longer are they something you drink for convenience but a product you would choose to drink and are now attracting a more premium audience.”
Brock adds: “As we go in and out of lockdowns, the rise of the outdoor and park or picnic occasion becomes more and more important. People want to enjoy their favourite drinks without the quality or taste being compromised.
“We have launched three RTDs for Bombay Sapphire across various parts of Europe including Bombay and Tonic, Bombay & Light Tonic and Bombay Bramble, allowing our gin fans access to their favourite Bombay drinks, whenever they want, wherever they are.”
While RTDs are undeniably a booming part of the sector, away from the beverage itself, Brock highlights a number of other areas that should be placed in the spotlight.
“Sustainability is certainly something that a lot of distillers are looking at now and working hard to develop technologies to reduce our impact on the planet,” she says. “I am not sure you could call it a ‘trend’ as such, but it will be continued to be talked about by brands as more consumers expect sustainable practices.
“We are confident that Bombay Sapphire can help lead the way on this – sustainability has long been an area of focus for us, and we continue to work hard at it every day, including our efforts to keep our distillery at Laverstoke Mill running as efficiently as possible with measures like using a biomass boiler which is fuelled by local, sustainably sourced woodchips.
“Energy is further reduced by recovering heat from the distillation process and using it to pre-heat the spirit. We recently announced that by the end of this year all 10 botanicals will be certified sus-tainable with the ‘For Life’ certification by ECOCERT – a first for any gin.
“We have adopted a 360-degree approach to sustainability – caring for the farmers, their communities as well as the botanicals they grow.”
Brock also says she’s seen a rise in the amount that people are making cocktails at home and “upskilling” themselves.
She explains: “We don’t see this trend going away as people continue to host at home, as well as heading back into bars when it’s safe to do so. Due to this new upskilling, as bars reopen, bartend-ers will be greeted by more informed drinkers.
“This is exciting because aficionados make better appreciators and hopefully people will be open to experimenting and trying new, more creative cocktails back in the bar.”
But regardless where people enjoy these drinks, Anne Brock is rightfully confident that the distillery she calls home will play a part.
“Bombay Sapphire is the fastest growing premium gin brand in the world, so it is definitely at the front of the growth in gin we are seeing in the UK.
“The gin is perfectly balanced making it the ideal canvas for creativity which means we see people choosing Bombay Sapphire, time and time again, to make drinks at home, or have drinks made for them in a bar when they are celebrating those moments that matter.”
The Distillery
A short train journey from London, this is the perfect stop over for a trip outside the city. 45 minutes from Stonehenge, the Bombay Sapphire distillery is based in Winchester, the historical capital of England.
Laverstoke Mill is the home of the beloved Bombay Sapphire gin. Guests can explore the stunning Heatherwick Studio designed botanical Glasshouses and the Victorian and Georgian paper mill in a beautiful conversation area with over 100 years of history.
Exquisite events and experiences include: Explore the Bombay Sapphire Distillery with a guided tour that helps you discover the ten exotic botanicals infused into every drop of Bombay Sapphire Gin in the Glasshouses with an insight into Heatherwick Studios’ inspired design.
Your host will take you through the Botanical Dry Room, a sensory experience to uncover your flavour preferences and you learn all about the rare vapour infusion distillation process which makes Bombay Sapphire gin so exquisite.
Later on the host will drop you off at the Mill Bar helping you choose a cocktail from our menu, selected using your flavour preferences with a take home card detailing your personal taste profile.
Elsewhere, the Gin Cocktail Masterclass is an interactive session on cocktail culture where you can learn the tricks of the trade, creating your own cocktails that you can later master at home.
Your experience begins with a fully guided Discovery Experience followed by a complimentary cocktail in the Mill Bar. There, you will be hosted by one of their gin experts to create one of Bombay Sapphire signature cocktails.
