The makers of York Gin have opened a new distillery with its own gin school inside one of York’s finest city centre hotels.
17th March 2025…// York Distillery is located within the city’s ancient city walls at Middletons Hotel. It will develop new spirits to complement the existing internationally-renowned York Gin range.
The boutique distillery will also offer lessons in gin tasting, will teach people how to make their very own unique gin, and host cocktail-making classes. York Distillery officially opens on Friday April 4.
The popular five-star York Gin tasting experiences have been held in the iconic 16th Century York Gin shop on Pavement opposite Shambles for several years. The new location will offer an increased number of classes in a beautiful, purpose-built space where attendees can enjoy a G&T at the bar after their class.
The gin-making and cocktail-making classes will offer visitors and locals an informative and fun experience which showcases the company’s success in the spirits industry.
York Distillery’s sales and events manager, Becky Tatham, said: “York Gin opened the city’s first gin distillery years ago- and we’ve always made all our gins in York. Everything we do is of the very highest quality – so the beautiful Middleton’s Hotel is the perfect partner for us.
“We’re delighted and excited to open this beautiful boutique distillery within the city walls. Shining copper stills of all sizes and the scientific distillery paraphernalia complements the elegantly-decorated space perfectly. It’s a spirit lover’s happy place!”
Becky continued: “We’re proud to represent York and we take our responsibility to our city very seriously. York Distillery will be a venue to enjoy brilliant experiences with friends, colleagues or as a couple. Some of York’s best creatives have been instrumental in designing the distillery – with York woodworkers, PurePallets, creating beautiful bespoke pieces and GEM Construction helping to make the very most of this unusual space.”
Middleton’s Hotel is owned by Thwaites. Commenting on the new distillery, Rick Bailey, executive chairman at Thwaites, said: “We’re proud to welcome the new York Gin Distillery to Middletons and we look forward to continuing our long-term relationship with the company. This is not only a fantastic way to bring a new lease of life to a disused space, but it’s another wonderful experience our guests can choose to enjoy as part of their stay.”
The York Gin range has won multiple gold medals at the world’s top spirits competitions and is seen as one of the top ultra-premium gin brands around.
York Distillery and York Gin are both owned by York Drinks. Director Natalie Hall said: “York Distillery is where the magic happens – as new flavour combinations are imagined and created by our talented distillers.
“Our main distillery and warehouse in the Murton area of the City of York will continue to undertake the larger-scale distilling activities along with bottling, labelling and packing. This is also where our online operations will continue.”
Natalie added: “We want York Distillery to help cement York’s reputation as one of the UK’s capitals of taste.
“Generations of flavour experts have made York their home – from the Terry and Rowntree families in the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries to the city’s amazing contemporary chefs and mixologists of the 21st Century. We couldn’t be more excited to be part of this rich tradition.”
