Six Bells Lemon Gin

Six Bells Lemon Gin is inspired by the citrus that rushed down the Thames on boats from the British Empire. Those ships would have been steered upstream towards the two churches – one in Westminster and one just off Eastcheap – that argue over who inspired the nursery rhyme: “Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clement’s.” Named after the six bells that surround the City of London, this is a gin deeply imbedded in the capital’s history, right down to the bottle shaped like St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Refreshing and deeply summery, Six Bells positively buzzes with lemon sherbet, lemongrass and lemon peel, without losing any of its juniper oomph. It makes a zingy gin and tonic garnished with lemon thyme, but could and should be used in any manner of gin-based cocktails.

During the 18th Century the City of London was awash with gin. Let’s call this Gin Craze Volume 1. Unfortunately, this all completely disappeared to be replaced with finance, commerce and an unfeasible number of coffee shops. Then after the turn of the Millennium, gin came back with a vengeance – Gin Craze Volume 2. In 2012, City of London Distillery opened, the first in gin’s spiritual home for nearly 200 years. Since then, this small-batch micro-distillery, with Master Distiller Jonathan Clark at the helm, has been quietly creating some of the country’s most exciting gins beneath the capital’s busy streets.