The London Nº1
London No 1 is the original blue gin, conceived by two masters of the industry: Charles Maxwell and Martin Gill. Years ahead of their time they recognised that colour and flavour in gin elevates the experience.
Martin’s heritage in the tea and spice world meant he could transfer his deep understanding of blending herbs and spices into developing a much more complex premium gin than most on the market by using powerful flavours like Bergamot. In developing The London No 1 with Charles Maxwell (a 7th generation distiller), he used a unique blend of 12 botanicals.
Inspired by the heritage of London Style gins that used to create a striking ‘blue haze’ in their distillation process, they set about creating a unique blue gin. Like many spirits, getting the exacting colour took time before settling on the captivating shade of pale blue created by a delicate alkaline colouring.
In 2010 the brand was sold to Gonzalez Byass but today is still distilled under the watchful eye of Charles Maxwell at Thames Distillers in the ‘Tom Thumb’ still. This is the smaller of the two stainless steel stills, the other named ‘Thumbelina’.
