A brand new gin that showcases the Isle of Man is receiving enthusiastic reviews from experts in the UK.

From the distinctive label on the bottle featuring a Manx cat to the drink inside, Douglas Dry Gin from the Seven Kingdoms distillery has strong local credentials.

Head distiller Ian Warborn-Jones said that it’s the local Manx ingredients that make it so special, including our Manx water which plays a big part.

He said: ’It’s 60% of our product and it’s incredibly pure. We run it through a reverse osmosis process so the taste is consistent every time.’

Another local ingredient is Manx gorse, as Ian explained: ’I’ve picked gorse from my garden in Regaby for the gin: when you dry it, gorse tastes somewhere around the mango and papaya end of the spectrum and it really concentrates the flavour. We also use locally-grown bay leaves and locally produced honey which is what makes the gin so smooth.’

When it’s in full production, the Seven Kingdoms distillery at their Lake Road premises can turn out 1,000 bottles of gin an hour and Ian has plans to use it to its full capacity through exporting to the UK. ’We will be aiming for large scale distibution pretty quickly,’ Ian said.

He has already sent some bottles to various experts in London and had good feedback. He said: ’These are people whose opinion I trust and everybody said the same thing: "It’s incredibly smooth, delicate and good enough to drink neat".’

Seven Kingdoms runs a restaurant alongside the distillery and Ian, who has a degree in viticulture, says his training in wine-making has meant he has been able to produce a ’pretty solid’ wine list. He is especially pleased with one of the items on the list as he explained: ’We are importing an English sparkling wine produced in Sussex by a friend of mine, called Court Garden, which is out of this world.’

Seven Kingdoms is also in the advanced stages of producing a Manx rum which they hope to have available early next year.