Chickens and ducks may be the tastiest thing to have come out of Goosnargh – but now there’s a top tipple too.

Husband and wife team Richard and Rachel Trenchard launched Goosnargh Gin in October and are already on the shelves at a number of local pubs and independent farm shops.

Advertisements

Now the pair, who live at the foot of Beacon Fell, have started supplying Plau – Preston’s newest gin and ale house – and are developing plans to run Lancashire foraging and distilling days.

Rich says: “All of our gins will be ‘Chapters’, designed for people to follow our brand’s story as it grows and develops.”

Their first batch of Chapter One – Signature Gin, sold out in days.

The gin is a nod to the Forest of Bowland, using botanicals such as meadow sweet, yarrow and elderflower which will grow naturally within the forest.

Rich says: “Chapter One has had an amazing response, being described as ‘a meadow in your mouth’.”

Chapter Two – Dark Skies is named after the Forest of Bowland’s ‘dark skies’ status, meaning the area’s low light pollution levels make it excellent for stargazing.

This gin is a blend of 12 botanicals, including cardamom, vanilla and aniseed, to offer a smooth, delicately spiced gin.

Read more: Plau Gin and Ale House opens in Friargate

Chapters Three and Four are in the pipeline, one using a botanical rarely seen in spirits before and one in collaboration with the Forest of Bowland Area of Natural Beauty.

Rich and Rachel were among the producers representing the county’s amazing food and drink at the Taste Lancashire conference at Clitheroe this month. They also have stalls booked at a range of events over the summer, including the Royal Lancashire Show.

Rachel adds: “Our gins are a real celebration of the area of outstanding natural beauty in which we distill. Our gins are all very personal to us, be that in the botanicals we use to represent our surroundings, or with some reference to the geography or heritage of the area.

“Even the roe deer on our branding is one which walks the path into woodland near our distillery.

“Lancashire produces some of, if not the best food and drink in the country, and we’re really proud to be a part of that.”

But while the business is growing, and the range expanding, Rich says they plan to stay very much a local brand.

He says: “We have no desire to go down the mass market route, instead wanting to keep a tight hold on our brand and be able to talk to our customers ourselves.

“Our foraging and gin distilling days, which will feature no more than six people, are an extension of that. Those who take part will be able to go out in the area surrounding our distillery in the morning with our forager, before returning to base to create a gin to take home in the afternoon.”