Reverend Hubert Winter Gin Liqueur - 50cl, 27% ABV | Premium Alcoholic Drink Made with Natural Real Fruit | A Gin Liqueur Handmade in the UK | Perfect with Prosecco | Ideal for Gifts & Parties

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When we make things, I might seem weird, but I’m always surprised that it works with this liqueur with the lemons and the oranges and the spices and the sweetness , there’s always something that can match and blend with something else. Tom: We do, right? The summer version, if winter is a mince pie, summer is daisies and gardens and plums and rhubarb and pomegranates and a nice alternative to our traditional Pimm’s and a big jug of something outside with a few strawberries. That had a success over this summer, but next year, we’re really going to boost it and get it out of about.

The brief was very much to bring out the cheeky, glint in his eye, friendly, warm personality of Reverend Hubert. Look closely and you can see a halo around only half his head, to signify he was a man of cloth, but who also knew how to have a good time at the same time.

Moment of inspiration The recipe for Reverend Hubert winter gin liqueur comes straight from one of his old hip flasks that Tom Lester was handed down He had already gotten the bug for having a go at homemade liqueurs when he was inspired to have a go at making limoncello from fine vodka and Amalfi lemons after going to the region on Honeymoon.

Tom: The label came about because I read articles about him. During one of the wars, the Belgian refugees came to England and he was at the time based near Nottingham. They shifted them away from London as, as they did. One of the things that he did, which just remained in my mind was to go round, no one had any money or anything, but he used to collect eggs.Hubert was strong willed and resourceful; despite his family’s objections he gave up all his privileges and chose another way, following his desire to help those less fortunate than himself. Tom: His recipe? He had two flasks, one of the recipes I couldn’t read very clearly, but it was from when he was in Egypt. So, one of his jobs was to guard the Sphinx. I’ve got photos of him in front of the Sphinx. Right. In his uniform and then I’ve got photos of him, kind of on a horse and the camel and all the rest of it. And so that recipe, you can see, raisins on there, right? You can see spices. I’m going to guess that those spices were the kind of spices we’re using now. Hence the kind of the amalgamation of the two if you want the two recipes. Many years later, the Reverend’s Great Grandson, Thomas Lester found his own passion for crafting liqueurs after taking inspiration from his honeymoon to the Amalfi coast. He began experimenting at home using locally foraged ingredients and shared the fruits of his labour at family gatherings. During one such event, Thomas’ aunt shared a beaten-up WWI hip flask along with the original recipe for Reverend Hubert’s Winter Gin Liqueur.

we came together then for me to make a Fortnum and Mason Mince Pie and Marmalade liqueur: so, the Mince Pie-ness of the Reverend Winter is there. I love marmalade. So, we had a chat and said, well, that might be a dumb idea, but how about we make this? Lush Life Merchandise is here – we’re talking t-shirts, mugs, iphone covers, duvet covers, ipad covers and more covers for everything! and more!I’ve seen all these pictures of him at a lot of parties. They’re either photos in the church of, you can imagine a Christmas Eve gathering a few carols and then a few drinks, all that situated on a tennis court because he was a big tennis fan. He insisted on a grass court naturally next to the Vicarage. When I look at all the pics, whenever I see him, he’s smiling. He’s happy. He’s jolly. He’s clearly enjoying his life and the label, right? Tom: Good question because I have no idea about spirits. I’ve never worked in booze. I’ve had various jobs in the past, some incredibly brilliant and amazing and some less so good. This came about because I love having dinner parties. I always like people at the end of a dinner party to stay for an extra couple of hours to make sure, since we’re all together, that we make the most out of hanging out. It was that that gave it the freshness and the boost. Then you had a bit of gloopiness afterwards, but what I mean, I think, when I looked at some that was left over a year later, the sediment was halfway up of the bottle. So, it wasn’t an attractive looking thing. We are constantly trying to improve it. It’s great that it started off as a home made drink, but filtering and fining of something so full of ground spices and raisiny shrub was a real headache . So we spent a great deal of time working out how to use filtration systems and bentonite fining.” These days, there’s so much more than Irish cream to choose from too — new, innovative flavours are inspired by comforting desserts, seasonal spices and plenty of chocolate.

Because of that, I started making a limoncello because in London, for me, 10 years ago, it was quite difficult to find a nice limoncello. I started importing Amalfi lemons and zesting them, so then at the end, we could all have a shot or two and keep going. That progressed into now every time I have a dinner party, I’ve got to have some kind of cool homemade something or other. I am so proud of what we are doing. It feels like we have created a new category, but then I think there is plenty of room for a category between vermouth and gin. A mixable liqueur that you can use to replace a spirit, a gin in different recipes,” he explains. He says even the peeling of one lemon, or orange had to be done in a certain way. “You have to use a peeler so that you only just get the top layer of lemon skin. We also discovered that we needed a tiny layer of pith from the orange as it adds an essential bit of balancing tannin to the drink.” Tom: Yeah, in my head when I drink this and when I sip it, I am picturing a Fortnum and Mason mince pie, right? I love mince pies and Fortnum’s mince pies are ridiculously good.Susan: All right. So, you got it in the Cotswolds. You have it in the bottle. What do you do next? Obviously, you laugh. Lester says he first came across the Reverend’s winter gin liqueur when he was given an old “smashed up WW1 hipflask with a barely legible label” by his aunt for his eighteenth birthday that happened to contain his winter liqueur and “a recipe of sorts”. “Here began the lesson,” says Lester. Label within a label The label and design looks to reflect the mixed personality of Reverend Hubert Each year he would update the recipe based on whichever country he happened to be stationed – be it for his country, or his religious calling. So much so that he now has a 10% stake in the business and is committed to hand peeling Amalfi oranges and lemons for large parts of the year.