Tour The London Distillery Where Beefeater Has Made Gin Since 1958

BeefeaterDesmond PayneFew drinks are as synonymous with a city as gin is with London, and in London there is only one major brand of gin still distilled within the city limits — Beefeater.

Beefeater aside, Gin has a major part in London's history. In the 1700s the town experienced a phenomena known as 'The Gin Craze' when citizens were hooked on the drink as an alternative to the city's unfiltered water.

You can imagine how that turned out.

It took some doing, but the government managed to bring the craze under control by charging distillers licenses to operate and sell their wares. That's when the cream rose to the top, and at the top still is Beefeater, the award winning brand known for the iconic Tower of London guard on its bottle.

In 1863 founder James Burrough bought a distillery that had been operating since 1820. From that point on Beefeater's recipe and process has remained mostly unchanged, safeguarded by master distiller Desmond Payne.

Payne and his staff showed Business Insider around the London distillery Beefeater has occupied had since 1958, shared their gin-making technique, and let us poke around the stills.

But not too close, obviously.

Disclosure: Our trip to London, including travel and lodging expenses, was sponsored by Pernod Ricard, which is the owner of the distillery. Enjoy our tour with that in mind.