Indie Oxford Interview: Abingdon Distillery
Indie Oxford writer Holly Davis went to Abingdon Distillery to find out more about the process of making award winning rum and why owner Jordan’s Oxfordshire business is pretty special. >>
Jordan founded the Abingdon Distillery just over five years ago in his home garage. Since making it out of the garage, Jordan is now appearing on shows like Saturday Kitchen, is close to selling out on some of his range and is at that stage of expansion where he’s starting to grow his team. After spending time travelling east Asia, he was intrigued by the interesting flavours on offer—far superior to anything available back home—and he wanted to bring that back with him.
For the last two years, he has had a permanent location in Abingdon, a lovely premises tucked away on Ock Street where all the magic happens. Everything is done by hand, from building the distillery with his father-in-law to bottling and labelling everything themselves. Jordan prides himself on quality, and this is a “craft” he takes seriously while still having “as much fun as possible” along the way.
Jordan supplies rum and gin to a number of local independent bars as well as sites further afield and is in the process of making whisky, although it needs another two years in the barrels before we can reap the benefits!
It was surprising to hear that since COVID, the price of rye is the same in Ukraine as it is in the UK. Larger outfits like the Oxford Artisan Distillery have been purchasing their own rye fields to produce their own, which is something Jordan cannot currently compete with. He remarked that the costs are “spiralling” for bottles too. Jordan is big on sustainability, so all his packaging is carbon-neutral and recyclable, which despite the cost, is great to see him investing in.
A bit of Jordan’s creativity goes into all of the drinks; he says himself, “I don’t make anything I wouldn’t drink myself.” He is not into overly sweet flavours and will never use any artificial flavourings or colourings, which are becoming increasingly popular in mainstream alcohol production to get a certain “aesthetic” not possible to attain by natural fermentation.
Only about a dozen companies are fermenting from scratch in the UK, so what Jordan is doing here in Abingdon is pretty special.
It is great to hear that he has been collaborating with The Great British Mead company based in Wantage and Hitchcox Cider based in Charlgrove, swapping barrels to experiment with new interesting flavours. Jordan doesn’t strike one as someone afraid of breaking the rules; he is trialling a cherry brandy for Christmas and has some other interesting “funky” flavour combinations on the go.
It’s really encouraging to see the resurgence of Abingdon being known for local craft, with Abingdon Brewery recently re-opening and Abingdon Distillery going from strength to strength. The future is looking bright.
Jordan runs regular gin and rum tasting tours. Attending the rum tasting tour includes two delicious cocktails, an informative tour of the distillery, and an evening of tasting and mixing your choice of rums to make a generous bottle to take home. Jordan even allows people to re-order their personalised creations for special occasions in the future. He currently retains a 5-star rating on Google and Trip Advisor and has more awards than he’ll soon have to have space for and I can see why.
Having experienced it myself, I can completely testify to this gem of a place that I’d really recommend you visit! You can also rent the distillery for private events.
