'Mustard Gas' Incident at Sipsmith's

Cranbrook Road distillery evacuated after new gin recipe goes wrong

The Chiswick based gin distillery Sipsmith's had to be evacuated after a they accidentally made mustard gas during an attempt to make a new flavour according to a report in the Daily Mail.

Workers at the site on Cranbrook Road were trying to create a new mustard flavoured drink but reportedly ended up with a by-product of a gas which is better known from trench warfare in the First World War.

Kit Clancy, assistant distiller at Sipsmith, was quoted in the Daily Mail saying 'There was a near disaster. What the guys actually produced was in effect mustard gas. The distillery was evacuated. That one wasn't made again.'

Sipsmith's say that the incident occurred four years ago and was over quickly and had 'no impact on our friends and neighbours near by.

Sipsmith produces its own London Dry Gin and a Barley Vodka, both produced in small batches of fewer than 300 bottles. The distillery moved to the Chiswick premises so that it could accommodate a third copper pot still – 'Constance' - to sit alongside its existing stills 'Prudence' and 'Patience'.

The site where the distillery is based

The company is one of only four gin distilleries located within London's city limits. Sipsmith was launched by Sam Galsworthy and Fairfax Hall, former employees of Fuller's and Diageo.

Sipsmith was originally established in London in 2009 and became the first copper-pot based distillery to start up in London in 189 years.

January 18, 2016