Hensol Castle Distillery

This venue is only a couple of miles from where I live and it is certainly a local treasure. My sis and I spent a relaxing, interesting couple of hours on the Gin Tour and would certainly recommend it to others.
It was Peter’s first tour and he did an amazing job giving us the history of Hensol Castle and of the story of gin and he also found time for a social chat in the bar.
Dai, the master distiller, was so enthusiastic in his presentation showing his knowledge and skill which took the tour from what could have been boring irrelevant information to another level. Thank you both.

We had four in our party and the tour group was about fourteen or so, which worked well.

The tour consisted of a sampling of one of the gins, a briefing on some of the history of gin usage and the castle followed by a visit to the distillery and the area where you can do some of the gin making. This was then followed by a visit to the bar and another free sample. Further cocktails were available at additional cost and there was no pressure to leave or to purchase more.

Some potential improvements include :

* Reducing the time going through the history element by 5 minutes or so

* Increasing the variety of drinks available for sampling, and maybe including another one too

* Giving drivers in the parties the option of having a mocktail and taking away a gin miniature and mixer for consumption later.

* Offering a discount on bottles purchased for drinking later or for presents etc

All in all it was a very pleasant couple of hours - and certainly the £25 tour fee was not unreasonable.

I had purchased the tickets in2019 as a Christmas box for my husband and COVID stopped us visiting until now so was very pleased to be able to go. The tour was very informative and talk was given by Dai and Daz. Tour was about 2hrs and was started and finished with a G&T A lovely Xmas box for any Gin lover

This was a present from my husband. I was happy to go on my own and be part of the friendly group, led by Andrew. Tip would be to arrange a lift if you are going to have the two full gin and tonics and several small samples provided. Very impressed with the individual stills we had and the fact we really did distill our own gin with our own choices of botanicals we weighed out and added ourselves. The best chemistry lesson ever! Loads of botanicals to choose from and very happy with the bottle I made. Andrew was very engaging and knowledgeable and a really pleasant half day.

I went on the gin tour with my 2 children and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The tour began with a drink which was unexpected but very tasty! Then it continued with the history of gin and also a history of the building and previous owners which was interesting and not too long! Next, a more relaxed talk of what goes on at the distillery and some tasting. Lastly, it finished with another drink in a relaxed bar. The guide Clemmy was lively, very knowledgeable, funny at times and made us feel at ease. Would definitely recommend.

We had a fantastic day at Hensol Castle making gin! The tour was lovely, with lots of interesting fact about the history of gin and Hensol Castle itself. Our guide was Peter and he was fab, really patient and knowledgeable and willing to answer our questions and help us! The gin making was so much fun, cannot recommend it enough and I can’t believe what we produced in the time we were there! Thank you Pete for our gin, for the tasters and a brilliant day! Highly recommend!

Gin Making for Two

Lovely grounds at the castle and inside reception. Fascinating history at the tour part of the event. The welcome cocktail and end cocktail was lovely, and both me and my fiancée really enjoyed making our gin and picking the botanical ingredients and herbs to use, and we had fun doing so. Our guide Peter was great, knew a lot about the subject and let us tour the grounds afterwards for us to see if the venue was a potential wedding location.

The only negative points were that for the price I would have expected a more clean floor area (although this is a minor point as it is a factory environment after all). The gin tour could have been a bit longer too, as we didn't get time to read all the displays.

What Fantastic Afternoon! From the time we started the experience to the end the event was interesting and professionally delivered.
Hugo took us on a verbal tour of gin making and Hensol Castle..
Then we spent time learning about botanicals in preparation for making our own gin.
Hugo was knowledgeable and delivered the event in a way that was engaging and enjoyable.
Well Done Hugo and Hensol

I went with my husband and we really enjoyed it. The distiller was very knowledgeable about the history of the castle and the making of the gin. We were with a group of youngsters who were being disrespectful and disruptive but he handled the situation even though you could see he was embarrassed by their behaviour. He did apologise after the tour but it wasn't his fault

Our host was very knowledgeable and the tour went very quickly.
We did the Gin tour and tasting for £25 each, very good value for money as we had a gin (and lemonade) on way in and a gin and tonic on the way out, plus some expert tasting tips!
If you're driving or not drinking you get a takeaway g&t
Very interesting history of the castle and tour of the distillery.
500 bottle in 6 hours that'll do us haha
I would highly recommend this.