Hampshire &amp; Isle of Wight


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-river-test-1000x750.jpg" alt="Laverstoke Mill, The Bombay Sapphire Distillery on the River Test, Hampshire" class="wp-image-39076" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-river-test-1000x750.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-river-test-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-river-test-768x576.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-river-test.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>If you’ve ever wondered what actually goes into that iconic blue bottle perched on every respectable bar, a tour of <strong><a href="https://www.bombaysapphire.com/distillery" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Bombay Sapphire Distillery</a> </strong>in Laverstoke is well worth the outing. Set in the impeccably restored Laverstoke Mill near Whitchurch, this world-famous brand home blends Hampshire heritage, Heatherwick design magic and – yes – top-tier gin sipping.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gin-and-blue-movies">Gin and blue movies</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1125" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-painted-gin-bottle.jpg" alt="Painted bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin at the distillery in Hampshire tour review" class="wp-image-39074" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-painted-gin-bottle.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-painted-gin-bottle-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-painted-gin-bottle-1000x750.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-painted-gin-bottle-768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p><strong><a href="https://www.bombaysapphire.com/distillery/tours-experiences/gin-distillery-tour/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Bombay Sapphire Distillery tour</a> </strong>experience kicks off in suitably stylish fashion: making your very own gin and tonic, mixed in the brand’s signature sapphire-blue glass (a non-alcoholic option keeps drivers happy). Drink in hand, you then cosy up in the small cinema room for a short film and a whistle-stop history of gin with one of the Bombay Sapphire Distillery&#8217;s friendly and super knowledgeable tour guides.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-architecture-lovers-prepare-to-swoon">Architecture lovers, prepare to swoon</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1001" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Glasshouses-1_v1_0.jpg" alt="The Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Hampshire Glasshouses" class="wp-image-39079" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Glasshouses-1_v1_0.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Glasshouses-1_v1_0-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Glasshouses-1_v1_0-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Glasshouses-1_v1_0-768x513.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>Next stop: the showstopping Thomas Heatherwick-designed glasshouses. The two gleaming botanical beauties rising from the River Test like something out of a design coffee-table book. They’re an Instagrammer’s dream but also serve a clever purpose: inside housing tropical and Mediterranean botanicals used in the gin. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2021/01/bombay-sapphire-glasshouse-tour-min.jpg" alt="Bombay Sapphire Distillery tour" class="wp-image-29286" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2021/01/bombay-sapphire-glasshouse-tour-min.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2021/01/bombay-sapphire-glasshouse-tour-min-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2021/01/bombay-sapphire-glasshouse-tour-min-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2021/01/bombay-sapphire-glasshouse-tour-min-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2021/01/bombay-sapphire-glasshouse-tour-min-788x525.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>The Tropical glasshouse is deliciously warm, sustainably heated with excess energy from the stills. It&#8217;s filled with Bombay Sapphire botanicals like exotic grains of paradise. Basking in the warm, we also spot some other tropical plants like bananas and pineapples (for décor – and why not).</p>



<p>Though Bombay Sapphire’s story starts in 1761 with Warrington distiller Thomas Dakin, the Laverstoke site itself is steeped in history. It appeared as far back as the 1086 Domesday Book. Looking for a suitable forever home, Bombay Sapphire production moved here from Cheshire in 2014. And the transformation from crumbling paper mill to cutting-edge distillery was nothing short of spectacular.</p>



<p>Our super knowledgeable guide continues to drop brilliant trivia throughout our Bombay Sapphire Distillery tour, like the mill’s past life printing banknotes for Britain and India and Heatherwick’s impressive CV (yes, those curvy 2021 London Routemasters are his handiwork too). We also learn about the local wildlife – including the splashing trout in the Test and the resident bats.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-new-bombay-sapphire-distillery-botanical-room">The new Bombay Sapphire Distillery Botanical Room</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1125" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-tour-botanicals-room.jpg" alt="Botanicals room at the Bombay Sapphire Distillery tour hampshire" class="wp-image-39080" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-tour-botanicals-room.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-tour-botanicals-room-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-tour-botanicals-room-1000x750.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/bombay-sapphire-distillery-Laverstoke-Mill-tour-botanicals-room-768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>Freshly relaunched this year, along with the gorgeous glasshouses and sipping a glass of the good stuff in situ, the new multi-sensory Botanical Room is another real highlight of the experience. Sniff, touch and taste your way through the botanicals that define Bombay Sapphire – from bright, zingy lemon peel to warming cubeb berries. Sleek screens animate the stories of artisan growers and sustainable sourcing. Each botanical also has a factsheet / cocktail card you can take away (warning: you’ll want to try them all).</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-behind-the-blue-bottle-the-still-room">Behind the blue bottle: The Still Room</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1708" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Stillhouse-scaled.jpg" alt="Copper stills at The Bombay Sapphire Distillery in Hampshire gin tour" class="wp-image-39078" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Stillhouse-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Stillhouse-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Stillhouse-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Stillhouse-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Stillhouse-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/Bombay-Sapphire-Distillery-Stillhouse-2048x1366.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



<p>The tour’s climax is the still room. Here, two of the Bombay Sapphire Distillery&#8217;s four gleaming copper stills hum away and you learn the secrets of vapour infusion. Instead of boiling botanicals directly, the spirit vapour passes through copper baskets. They&#8217;re layered in a closely guarded order (therin lies the secret!), extracting flavour with extraordinary finesse. The resulting spirit is later blended with pure water from Wales to reach its trademark 40% ABV.</p>



<p>If you fancy a cocktail, bite to eat or just want to linger a little longer, the beautifully designed café is recommended. If the sun’s out, the riverside setting offers dreamy views and serious ‘wish this was my back garden’ energy.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-muddy-verdict">The Muddy Verdict</h2>



<p>Slick, stylish and surprisingly educational, the Bombay Sapphire Distillery Tour is a must-do for Hampshire locals and day-trippers alike. Whether you’re a gin obsessive, an architecture buff or simply partial to a beautifully crafted G&amp;T, this is an immersive experience that delivers on all fronts. Costing from just £22pp (gin included) it’s also a great value outing, too.</p>



<p><em>The Bombay Sapphire Distillery, Laverstoke Mill, London Rd, Whitchurch RG28 7NR. <a href="https://www.bombaysapphire.com/distillery" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bombaysapphire.com/distillery</a></em>.</p>


Review: The Bombay Sapphire Distillery Tour, Laverstoke, Hampshire

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