The quiet waters of the Cornish distilling world turned distinctly choppy in September when Nigel Farage launched a range of three Cornish gins made with “patriotic flavours” and featuring the man himself walking along a Cornish beach with his Labrador. Detractors expected it to be full of promise but leaving a bad taste in the mouth, but what caused a stushie was his comments that he had worked with Cornish artisans to produce his contribution to the ginaissance.

Distillers from the county all disclaimed responsibility but it eventually emerged that the tight-lipped artisanal collaborators were George and Angie Malde from the Cornish Rock Distillery. Their distillery is just off the A30 north-west of St Tudy, near Rock. The idea of creating the distillery, which started as a “little hobby” came to the couple as they walked their dog, Blue, along the beach at Rock. The couple’s ambition was to distil gin in small batches using natural Cornish spring water from their own deep-water source and fragrant botanicals of the highest quality, some of which Angie forages herself.

The Maldes use a still, named Bonanza Boy after their favourite racehorse, which now produces an impressive array of eight gins and eight rums, each batch of which is meticulously tested, hand-bottled, stamped, and inspected one more time before being released for sale. As the recent furore has demonstrated, they also engage in third party distilling. The business has grown to such an extent that they now employ seven people and are in the process, at the time of writing, of moving into bigger premises.

Their first gin was Cornish Rock Gin, a bottle of which I bought on a recent trip to Constantine Stores, the headquarters of Drinkfinder UK. On the lookout for local Cornish gin I had not tried before, my eye was caught by the strikingly elegant bottle. Made of clear glass, it tapers outwards slightly from the base, with four sides and rounded edges, leading up to an almost flat shoulder, a small neck, and a dark brown cap with a cork stopper.

The labelling makes good use of a black background with gold and white lettering, which oozes class. The front tells me that it has a none too shoddy ABV of 42% and my bottle was number 176 from batch no 27. Unusually, and gratifyingly, the Maldes are not tight-lipped into what goes into what they describe as “the result of their quest to uncover the true spirit of Cornwall”. The line-up of botanicals consists of juniper berries, orris root, orange and lemon peel, pink peppercorns, celery seeds, and liquorice root, an intriguing mix.

On the nose there is a reassuring mix of juniper, citrus notes, and more earthy elements. In the glass the spirit is clear and while the earthiness of the juniper, the creaminess of the angelica, and the bite of the peppercorn are evident, the principal characteristic of the gin is of refreshing citrus. It is smooth with a lingering aftertaste. For my taste the citrus could have been toned down a little, but it is a welcome addition to my gin collection.

Despite the furore their recent associations have caused, Cornish Rock Distillery’s products are definitely ones to try out. Only seven more gins to go!

Until the next time, cheers!