One of my favourite things to do after a visit to the gardens at Glendurgan and Trebah near Mawnam Smith on the Helford estuary is to pop into The Ferry Boat Inn, sit outside with a pint of foaming ale and watch the little boats sail up and down and across the river. It was such a moment that inspired the birth of Mainbrace Distillery, specifically when Richard Haigh, a co-founder, saw a member of the winning crew of the gig race celebrate with a tot of rum. They decided to create a rum that would encapsulate a moment of triumph and friendship and came up with a rum that is beautifully golden in colour and blends two distinct and never-before bottled styles. Mainbrace Rum has made quite a splash in the rum market and has begun to accumulate awards.

Rum is not my tipple and so my interest in a thriving local Cornish distillery based on the Helford Passage was only piqued when I saw that they were planning to release a gin to celebrate the late Queen’s then forthcoming Platinum Jubilee, Mainbrace Cornish Dry Gin. It seems they do things differently in Cornwall. The normal backstory is that a distiller adds gins to the more time-extensive and capital-hungry process of distilling whisky to bring in some much-needed revenue or having established a distilling operation to catch the boom spawned by the ginaissance, they extend their range of spirits to include vodkas and rums. Here, though, Mainbrace have gone from rum to gin.

Fortunately, they have chosen to keep the eye-catching bottle design, which is elegant, functional, and simply a pleasure to own. It looks like a bell or, to keep a quasi-nautical theme, a lighthouse on a rock, with a rounded, tapering base which leads to a long neck, topped by fashionably thick lips, and a wooden stopper with a real cork. The stopper has a golden star on the top and “The Queen God Bless Her” running round it, sadly missing a comma or hyphen. The labelling is bold, making good use of navy blue, gold, and white lettering.

The name Mainbrace is apposite. It was a naval term given to a thick rope which was used to steady or brace the main mast. If it was cut in enemy action, the crew had to splice the rope back together to save the ship. If this was achieved successfully, the captain would reward the crew with a double ration of rum. The phrase “splicing the mainbrace” became synonymous with raising a toast to celebrate a special occasion and was accompanied with a toast to the health of the monarch.

To splice the mainbrace in honour of Her Majesty, the distillers have taken advantage of the natural abundance that Cornwall has to offer. Using natural Cornish water in the distillation process, the spirit, which has an ABV of 40%, is made in a copper pot still in which botanicals including juniper, orris, lemon peel, angelica root, lime peel, and lime leaf are infused along with lemon verbena harvested from St Michael’s Mount, and three local seaweeds, kelp, dulse, and sea spaghetti, sourced from the Cornish Seaweed Company in nearby Gweek.  

It is a distinctly modern twist on a classic London Dry Gin style, by which I mean that the juniper plays a secondary role. On the nose it has distinct and bold citric notes. In the glass, the citrus in the lemon and especially the lime really dominate, before allowing the umami-rich seaweeds to play above the earthier traditional gin elements. The sense that this is a spirit that has a nautical tradition is reinforced by the rather salty aftertaste.

I found it refreshing and enjoyable, although I would have liked the juniper to have been more pronounced. It is a gin worth having, if only for the beautiful bottle.

Until the next time, cheers!