The cost of this visit is £23 per person. This includes a complimentary drink in the Mill Bar.
Bombay Sapphire is a brand of gin that was first launched in 1987 by IDV. In 1997 Diageo sold the brand to Bacardi. Its name originates from gin's popularity in India during the British Raj and the sapphire in question is the Star of Bombay on display at the Smithsonian Institution. Bombay Sapphire is marketed in a flat-sided, sapphire-coloured bottle that bears a picture of Queen Victoria on the label.
The flavouring of the drink comes from a recipe of ten ingredients: almond, lemon peel, liquorice, juniper berries, orris root, angelica, coriander, cassia, cubeb, and grains of paradise. The spirit is triple distilled using a carterhead still, and the alcohol vapours are passed through a mesh/basket containing the ten botanicals, in order to gain flavour and aroma. This is felt to give the gin a lighter, more floral taste compared to those gins that are distilled using a copper pot still. Water from Lake Vyrnwy is added to bring the strength of Bombay Sapphire down to 40.0% (UK, Canada, Australia).
In renovating Laverstoke Mill, Bombay Sapphire has taken the utmost care to preserve the natural ecology and heritage of the site. To build a long-term legacy at Laverstoke Mill, Bombay Sapphire has also committed to building a sustainable future. The award-winning sustainability measures in design and construction are at the heart of this state-of-the art distillery.
There has been a Mill on site in Laverstoke since at least 903 AD but the first official 
records show Laverstoke Mill as a corn mill marked in the Domesday Book of 1086. In 1719 A French Huguenot called Henry Portal leased Laverstoke Mill and converted it to make the finest quality hand-made paper…
Transforming a 300 year old paper Mill with over 1000 years of history within a Conservation Area and a Site of Special Scientific Interest took patience and dedication. Working with Heatherwick Studio, Bombay Sapphire sympathetically renovated Laverstoke Mill into a sustainable distillery that showcases the natural beauty and industrial heritage of the site…
In building a modern distillery at Laverstoke Mill every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the processes and buildings are as sustainable and efficient as possible. In recognition of this the distillery has been awarded the highly prestigious BREEAM Award for Industrial Design in 2014.
After the morning visit the coach will take us to Alresford. This is the perfect place for strolling and there is plenty to please the eye.
Alresford (pronounced Allsford) is a beautiful Georgian Town which for many centuries was a prosperous wool town. Old Alresford is mentioned in the Domesday Book but the present town of New Alresford did not come into existence much before 1200 at the time when the Great Weir was being built to createOld Alresford Pond as a fish pond for the Bishop's Palace at Bishop's Sutton and a reservoir for the mills along the Itchen. The colour-washed Georgian houses you see today rose from the ashes of great fires in the 17th Century but many retain their original 13th century cellars.
Now the home of the Watercress Line steam railway, so called because of its association with watercress farming, in what is now known as the UK's capital of watercress. The town hosts the annual Watercress Festival in May attracting thousands of visitors each year.
Voted Country Life's 'Favourite Market Town' in the south-east its specialist shops selling antiques, gifts, food, clothes for all ages, antiquarian books, pictures, china and crafts are a year round attraction.
Alresford is the perfect place for strolling and there is plenty to please the eye - The Fulling Mill and Eel House along the riverside walk, St. John's Parish Church, the Millennium Trail and Old Alresford Pond, created by Bishop de Lucy, Bishop of Winchester, in the 12th century. Close by is Hinton Ampner House & Garden.
With pubs, hotels, restaurants and tea rooms, your every need will be satisfied. And don't forget to visit the Watercress Linesteam railway that runs from Alresford to Alton through 10 miles of beautiful Hampshire countryside.
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