How Distillery Start-Up Hope Distillery Became The First Licensed Small Batch Distillery In Cape Town
How Distillery Start-Up Hope Distillery Became The First Licensed Small Batch Distillery In Cape Town. After toiling away in London for 16 years, ex-lawyer Lucy Beard abandoned the corporate world to follow her passion. With her husband, Leigh Lisk, also an ex-lawyer, the couple found their way back to South Africa, after falling in love with craft gin in the Mediterranean and refurbished a rundown warehouse in the heart of industrial Salt River, creating the Mother City’s first distillery.
It is in this small urban haven that the two of them work and live, dedicating their lives to the age old process of batch distillation with their faithful stills. Hope Distillery mixes free-spirited determination with a serious desire to produce spirits of exceptional quality. Established in 2014, Hope Distillery was the first licensed small batch distillery to open in Cape Town and it continues to uphold its reputation for quality and consistency across its range of carefully crafted spirits. Resident Gin & Spirit Maker, Lucy Beard, steers a team of stillmen in the production of small batch vodka, agave spirit and a range of gins.
“Every day we set out to make the absolute best spirits that we can. We’re constantly experimenting and striving for excellence, mixing up new ideas and honing our recipes in our custom-built distillery. For us, it’s about creating something exceptional; something instilled with integrity and passion; something that will become the perfect accompaniment to people’s special moments.” Lucy Beard, Hope Distillery’s co-founder and resident Gin & Spirit Maker said on the company’s website.
The early days of Hope Distillery focused solely on the production of gin, but its growing repertoire has seen the introduction of its Hope Small Batch Vodka, it’s Hope Esperanza Agave Spirit and its most recent addition, its Hope Rhum Agricole. Hope Distillery not only creates its own spirits, it is also a leader in contract distillation and recipe development, producing other well loved local gin brands. It also produces a number of gins in collaboration with others, including well known restaurants and hotels.
