An entrepreneur is celebrating his gin distillery achieving the Traveller’s Choice Award, putting his business in the top 10% in the world on Trip Advisor – for the third year in a row.
Warwickshire Gin Company’s tasting experiences have also achieved the coveted top spot locally, being named as the most popular thing to do in Leamington Spa based on more than 150 reviews from visitors.
Founder David Blick who established the distillery at Victoria Business Centre in 2018, said:
“Visitor numbers sky-rocketed last year to over 3,700 from 2,100 in 2023, we have already seen very strong bookings for 2025 and had to add more experience capacity to satisfy demand. In 2025 we are expecting again over 3,000 visitors from all around the world to our small craft distillery.”
He added: “I didn’t know the first thing about making gin when the idea to start a distillery first came to me whilst on holiday in Tenby. I got talking to the owner of Tenby Gin who has a shop there and asked him how he made it. He told me he used a third-party distiller – and that’s when the penny dropped. We had a steep learning curve but learned from a multi-award-winning distiller.”
Fast forward seven years and David boasts a clutch of awards for his own gin and rum collection, born from ‘a desire to capture a moment in history, developing flavours to fully represent the county’s own unique story and bringing the range of hand-crafted flavours to life.’
These include Leamington on Parade, inspired by the true story of circus elephant trainer Sam Lockhart in the 1880s; The Kingmaker – named after Richard Neville 16th Earl of Warwick and Peeping Tom – inspired by the legend of Coventry’s Lady Godiva.
David said:
“I’m over the moon that all the hard work my team have put into our various experiences has paid off. We now have many customers visiting Warwickshire and Leamington in particular who can see the reviews and book up ahead of their visit, confident they will have a great time.”
Gin Tasting Experiences now take place on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Afternoon G&Tea on Saturdays and Sundays and Cocktails at the Distillery on Friday & Saturday nights.
He added: “Being in the Old Town area of Leamington is a handy short walk from the train station and also close to all the great bars and restaurants the town has to offer. Many decide to stay overnight or make a weekend of it.”
