Trevethan Distillery - New Cornish Gin
Cornish gin has become a ‘thing’ with the likes of Tarquins, Curio and Elemental becoming very popular in a short space of time. You may well have tried all of these, but Trevethan Cornish Distillery has thrown a spanner in the works by releasing Trevethan Gin. Now it will be even harder to decide which one is your favourite!
Trevethan Gin is a quality handmade gin distilled using an old traditional family recipe perfected in the 1920s by Norman Trevethan. The gin is produced in small batches in the distillery a short drive away from Saltash, so it's Cornish—but only just! The small quantities that are produced help to give every batch its own signature character: complex, with subtle hints of citrus and floral notes.
Trevethan gin is made using botanicals sourced from Cornish hedgerows for a true taste of Cornwall. It was traditional in Cornwall to celebrate the changing of the seasons with home-brewed alcohol, as this was normally only readily available in big cities, of which Cornwall had none. People from rural communities would forage in the hedgerows, fields and woodland; what was available to pick would change from season to season and the recipes used reflected this. Parsnip wine, blackberry and elderberry wine, marrow rum, plum brandy, blackthorn plum and sloe gin were all popular, and many families had their own secret recipes passed down through the generations.
Norman Trevethan was an archetypal rural personality—both inventive and resourceful. Born in 1906 in Tideford and hailing from a traditional Cornish family, the Trevethans had their own recipes for many of the county’s best-loved food and drinks. Norman was a chauffeur to Earl and Lady St Germans and regularly took them to society events in 1920s London. It was during this influential time—when gin cocktails were the height of fashion—that Norman decided the Trevethan family recipe for gin needed to be perfected.
The original Trevethan Gin recipe was the essence of the Cornish hedgerows. Norman gained a wealth of skills and knowledge from his experience of country brewing and his exposure to high-society London. Many years later, in 2015, Norman’s grandson Robert Cuffe, an engineer, and his friend and business partner John Hall, a chemist, decided to resurrect the old family tradition—and Trevethan Distillery was born.
Rob is an engineer with over 30 years of experience in designing and building food and drink production facilities. He started his career in a factory making Cornish pasties and later built a company that designed and constructed facilities for some of Europe’s top food and drink producers. Rob is Cornish through and through, proud of his family history, and passionate about producing some of Cornwall’s best spirits.
John is a chemist with a passion for all things distilled—particularly gin and whisky. He worked in chemical research before moving into technical sales, where he teamed up with Rob. When the opportunity came to revive the family gin recipe, John was excited to dust off the lab coat and recreate a recipe that had been lost for over 70 years.
Trevethan Gin’s botanical line-up includes classic ingredients like juniper, coriander, cassia and angelica, along with cardamom, orange peel, lemon peel, and vanilla. It's finished with the finest Cornish elderflower and gorse flower, handpicked from the hedgerows of Trewonnard Dairy Farm in Treneglos. The water used in distillation comes from a natural spring on nearby farmland—so soft that no mineral treatment is required—contributing to its truly natural flavour.
Trevethan Distillery keeps its operation intentionally small, so each bottle has its own unique character. Every batch is expertly hand-crafted in a traditional copper alembic still by John, just as Norman Trevethan did back in the 1920s. This reverence for original methods includes the charging of the still, botanical measurement, filling, and labelling. John uses a one-shot process, meaning each botanical is precisely measured to create the desired flavour and smoothness in a single distillation. There’s no blending or tweaking after distillation—what you taste is exactly what was made that day.
Trevethan Cornish Gin
Trevethan is first and foremost a big hit of juniper both on the nose and the palate, but underneath the initial burst you’ll find liquorice from the angelica and spicy cinnamon. Citrus notes from lemon, orange and elderflower round it off, followed by a final spicy kick from cardamom. The mouthfeel is smooth and slightly oily thanks to the gorse and vanilla elements.