Weekender: Award-winning gin school coming to new city

A school with a difference is set to open in Leeds as the couple behind a Yorkshire distillery bring their luxury Gin School experience to the city this winter.

Currently based in Hull, Hotham’s are opening Hotham’s Gin School Leeds in Eastgate this month, and will offer gin-loving guests the chance to learn all about gin, and to distil their very own bottle of handcrafted gin – just in time for Christmas.

Co-founders Emma Kinton and Simon Pownall said: “Our Hull-based Gin School has been so popular, with groups of around 20 people joining us every Saturday, and we’ve already had a big uptake from the people of Leeds.

“We’ll now be able to offer more guests more choice, with two venues offering the same high-end experience that we’ve been delivering in Hull for the past 18 months.”

Guests attending the quirky school will learn all about the history of gin and different methods of distillation. They will also have the chance to try up to 100 different botanicals used in gin making, choosing their favourites to distil themselves on tiny copper stills.

Pownall, himself a former pupil of Cookridge Primary School, said that he was excited at the prospect of being back in Leeds. He added: “Each guest will spend time with our distiller to make sure everyone makes a delicious gin – and there’ll also be plenty of our own Hotham’s Gin to sample too!”

Hotham’s has won an array of prestigious awards since their opening in July 2018, including ‘Remarkable East Yorkshire Tourism Award’ for ‘Remarkable Food Experience 2019’; the Garbutt +
Elliott ‘Taste of Yorkshire Award’ and more recently, a Silver Medal in the International Wine and Spirit Competition 2019 for Hotham’s Cardamom Gin.

They are also four times finalists for the White Rose Awards which will be announced in Leeds on 24 November.