Whilst the gin category might be fit for bursting, the sight of a winter gin liqueur is rare indeed which makes the story behind the Reverend Hubert even more fascinating. If you are sitting comfortably then let me begin…
“The Reverend Hubert Bell Lester (1868 -1929) was a charming and caring man who also enjoyed a good party…” That is the opening line that greets you when you go onto the website for the new Reverend Hubert winter gin liqueur.
It sets the perfect tone for this genuinely heart warming new addition to any discerning back bar.It’s a line that Joe Wadsack certainly lives up, but also one that means a great deal to Tom Lester, the Reverend’s great-grandson who has given him the ultimate tribute by bringing his name and spirit back to life with this winter gin liqueur.
It is also a genuine recreation of a winter gin liqueur recipe that the Reverend made himself back in 1904 to be shared that Christmas by his army colleagues and congregation of the local church.
The Reverend Hubert, centre, was a larger than life character whose personality his great-grandson Tom Lester has tried to capture in Reverend Hubert Winter Gin Liqueur
Each year he would update the recipe based on whichever country he happened to be stationed – be it for his country, or his religious calling.
The Reverend Hubert was clearly a larger than life character famous in the area of Nottingham where he finally made his home for all the charity work he did – like raising 1,249 eggs to be given to wounded soldiers coming back from the war.
Now some nearly 120 years later Tom Lester has decided to give it a second life and created a 2020 version of the winter gin liqueur recipe – that so requires every ingredient to be sourced, peeled and squeezed by hand.
He certainly was not looking to make his life any easier, but such was his determination to get as close to his ancestor’s original recipe it meant going the extra mile to get the ingredients just right.
Moment of inspiration
The recipe for Reverend Hubert winter gin liqueur comes straight from one of his old hip flasks that Tom Lester was handed down
Lester says he first came across the Reverend’s winter gin liqueur when he was given an old “smashed up WW1 hipflask with a barely legible label” by his aunt for his eighteenth birthday that happened to contain his winter liqueur and “a recipe of sorts”. “Here began the lesson,” says Lester.
He had already gotten the bug for having a go at homemade liqueurs when he was inspired to have a go at making limoncello from fine vodka and Amalfi lemons after going to the region on Honeymoon.
Now he switched his attention to trying to recreate the Reverend’s homemade liqueur which he did for friends and family one Christmas. Lester shares the story on his website: “It was basic, as you would expect, but heavenly. With a nightcap in hand and a Fortnum and Mason mince pie (they are the best in the world) for Santa left by the stockings, it occurred to me that after 40 years I had found my calling and a skill had passed through the genes from my great grandfather.”
Word soon got out in his local area in the Cotswolds that there was some decent local booze to be had, and Lester found himself up at the crack of dawn starting on a new small batch just to keep up with demand from the local rugby club.
The result is a balanced and smooth warming gin liqueur with aromatic notes of dried fruit, winter spices and fresh organic orange and lemon zest from Amalfi. Peeled painstakingly by hand. All to be enjoyed neat or as part of a cocktail.
Double act
Joe Wadsack has been able to offer his buying and drinks knowledge expertise in helping to shape the recipes and ingredients for the Reverend Hubert range
Joe Wadsack became involved in the project when he was introduced to Lester in the middle of 2019 by the team at Randall & Aubin in Soho where he was helping put together their wine list.
Lester was keen to forge a partnership with someone who could help pull the brand together and advise on cocktail menus, and pulling together some distribution in key bars and outlets. Enter Mr Wadsack.
“His first challenge was how could he go from making a demi John to a run of 3,000 bottles,” says Wadsack. “Everything screamed at me that this was a bad idea.”
But he was quickly smitten and caught up in Lester’s passion for making a quality drink, combined with the unique story of the very real Reverend Hubert and the chance to create a brand that is genuinely special and very different.
They also got on like a house on fire – or “brothers from another mother” as Wadsack puts it.
So much so that he now has a 10% stake in the business and is committed to hand peeling Amalfi oranges and lemons for large parts of the year.
It’s all about the ingredients
Just the latest batch of oranges to be peeled…
Wadsack’s expertise and ability to be able to flick through a ready made dictionary of ingredients in his head meant he was able to work with Lester to fine tune, to the ultimate degree, the exact lemons, oranges and other ingredients they needed to produce the kind of drinks they wanted to make.
As Lester says Wadsack made him taste at least 20 different types of lemon just to pinpoint the one that was right for the liqueur – never mind the assortment of sultanas picked from different regions of Turkey.
Wadsack says he was able to use his training as wine and spirits buyer at Waitrose to re-assess the recipes that Lester was originally working to and the process so that they could re-assure a potential customer, like Waitrose, what types, styles and sources of fruit were exactly in the final product.
“We had to standardise it or else someone like Marks and Spencer won’t buy it,” says Wadsack. “We could not just estimate the level of alcohol, we needed to know exactly.”
“We are constantly trying to improve it. It’s great that it started off as a home made drink, but filtering and fining of something so full of ground spices and raisiny shrub was a real headache . So we spent a great deal of time working out how to use filtration systems and bentonite fining.”
Hard work
And then there is more…Wadsack about to get down to some serious peeling
It also meant a lot of hard work as every lemon and orange had to be hand peeled – all 4,000 and 2,000 of them. “It was just me and Tom. Two chopping boards and two peelers. We just sat there in the summer watching the cricket and peeling away. Yes it was a lot of peeling but we could not compromise on the quality.” Lester had to have an operation on his wrist due to the repetitive strain
There were some beneficiaries from the process though. “The lemon juice went to the River Café, and the orange juice went to Chez Bruce,” says Wadsack, “and the rest to meals on wheels.”
He says even the peeling of one lemon, or orange had to be done in a certain way. “You have to use a peeler so that you only just get the top layer of lemon skin. We also discovered that we needed a tiny layer of pith from the orange as it adds an essential bit of balancing tannin to the drink.”
To find the right oranges and lemons they went to Covent Garden market and asked the sellers where they were getting their produce from.They were then able to go direct to those suppliers and get their produce shipped in directly to Lester’s home from a citrus grove in Amalfi.
The right gin
Then there is the gin, which is procured from the Wood Brothers distillery a premium “farm to bottle” gin and vodka distillery in Oxfordshire made to a tailor made recipe.
Here Wadsack was able to use his experience working with Nick Dymoke-Marr, another supermarket drinks buyer turned spirits brand owner, and how they painstakingly blended his Langtons gin made in the Lake District.
“The gin we produce does not taste balanced on its own, but was reverse engineered for blending and using in theliqueur,” explains Wadsack. “I learnt a lot from creating a Damson gin liqueur with Nick. We couldn’t find a single gin liqueur recipe other than one for sloe gin from Mrs Beeton.”
That said they still went through “around 70 to 80 trials” to make the best quality drink they could, says Wadsack.
“We even ground our own spices. It was an incredible number of man hours, and we are still learning how to make it now, still adjusting and adapting.”
All of this took place in October 2019 when it was too late to actually get into trade to hit the winter spirits and liqueur market.
So it was a case of hand selling it where they could, says Wadsack. Thankfully Master of Malt was one of the first to taste and really like the brand.
Label within a label
The label and design looks to reflect the mixed personality of Reverend Hubert
The other stand out feature about Reverend Hubert is its distinctive label. One that immediately looks familiar and somehow iconic, even though it’s the first time you have seen it.
“Each label costs a small fortune, more than the gin in it,” says Wadsack, such is the level of detail that goes into each one.
The brief was very much to bring out the cheeky, glint in his eye, friendly, warm personality of Reverend Hubert. Look closely and you can see a halo around only half his head, to signify he was a man of cloth, but who also knew how to have a good time at the same time.
“He was a bit of scallywag of a character, a sort of Oliver Reed of his day,” says Wadsack. And that is what comes across in the half and half label.
“I am so proud of what we are doing. It feels like we have created a new category, but then I think there is plenty of room for a category between vermouth and gin. A mixable liqueur that you can use to replace a spirit, a gin in different recipes,” he explains.
Wadsack is certainly in his element showing you the recipes he has created using Reverend Hubert to make, for example, a new style of negroni. That is one third Reverend Hubert Winter Gin Liqueur; one third sweet vermouth (Cocchi Vermouth di Torino or Cinzano 1757 Rosso); and one third Campari; with a twist of clementine zest.
“It’s got it all,” he says, ‘the liqueur, the perfume, the fragrance, the winter spice, ginger, mace green cardamon – it tastes like a Christmas cake. Not too sweet and with the right balance.”
The legendary Alessandro Palazzi at Duke’s Hotel in London has become a big supporter of the brand
Long road to distribution
Like any new spirits brand the hard work really starts when it comes to trying to find listings and gaining enough volume and cash flow as well as nice reviews and thumbs up from friends and peers.
It has enjoyed some peaks in sales – particularly after Olly Smith recommended it on Saturday Kitchen, which went on to sell 1,200 bottles in just two hours.
It has during 2020 and the lockdown been able to build up its own direct to consumer sales through its website, but is committed to building the brand through the trade and working with the right customers.
As well as Master of Malt they have forged close ties with Whisky Exchange, Cambridge Wine, Fortnum & Mason, Noel Young Wines, and most recently, Marks and Spencer, amongst others.
Then there is the constant new product ideas with Wadsack and Lester testing and trialling different liqueurs made from Scottish rhubarb, Canadian cranberries and other fruits – including Serbian plums and Lebanese pomegranates. “We have done 40 batches of different types of fruit,” says Wadsack to then assess what works best.
“I know where to go in the world to find the perfect style of a certain type of fruit. Like Serbia and its plums.”
They have certainly cornered the market for creating quality winter gin liqueurs, to a standard the late Reverend Hubert would certainly have approved.
