"Working with Seb and the team at Pleasant Land Distillery has been an incredible experience. Their craftsmanship, attention to detail, and passion for creating exceptional spirits have been clear from day one.
Seb’s expertise and genuine care for the process have been instrumental in bringing Cimbroni to life, ensuring every batch meets the highest standard of quality. It’s rare to find a team that combines technical excellence with such authenticity - I couldn’t ask for better partners in this journey."
- Kennet Newall-Hearn
About Cimbroni Sambuca
Introducing the world's most luxurious sambuca, Cimbroni. A hand-crafted masterpiece, oak barrel aged. Anointed with myrrh, Organic Agave, Damascus rose, Petitgrain, and Elderberry.
"I’ve had the pleasure of working with Seb over the years on various different projects. Since he started Pleasant Land it has been really wonderful to see the brand grow and evolve, while sticking to its ethos of making delicious drinks in a truly environmentally conscious way.
For me the most important aspect will always be the taste, and Seb’s liquids are consistently great. We have put the products in bars across the country and they always get people talking in a positive way!"
- Stuart Bale
About Crucible
Crucible develop innovative and collaborative solutions for the drinks industry, including new product development, training and education.
"We have wanted to transform some of our ciders and perries into even more exciting products in our range. We knew we would need a first rate distilling partner, and one name began to appear more and more often, Sebastian Barnick of Pleasant Land Distillery.
His knowledge, energy and enthusiasm are obvious, but it was the speed with which he understood our concerns and requirements that impressed and reassured us the most. His openness and willingness to share have helped to greatly increase our knowledge of both the practical and theoretical aspects of the process. The resultant distillates have been a wonderful revelation, actually beyond what we were expecting, and we are now in a brilliant position to move forward with our project. Thanks Sebastian and team!"
- Little Pomona
About Little Pomona
Little Pomona crafts ciders and perries and other fermented beverages that speak of the land, that taste of the harvest, that illustrate the wonderful cidermaking heritage the region is built on, and that look to the future.
As with many producers, inevitably some products do not pass quality control. Little Pomona had a few containers with cider that, during fermentation, nature chose to take down an unexpected path or that were surplus from a separate blended product. This is where we come in to offer our expertise and knowledge to turn these ferments into high end spirits.
Discover how we worked with Little Pomona to develop 5 exceptional products.
Background
Little Pomona, run by James and Susanna, create incredible ciders in Herefordshire. Inspired by the tastes and vision of notable producers, their quest is to work with the best possible fruit using natural fermentation methods. The resulting ciders and perries are packed with complex flavours, competing with the wine industry on purity of variety expression and depth of flavour.
However, this natural approach can occasionally throw a spanner in the works.
The Problem
Little Pomona had a few containers with cider and perry where, during fermentation, nature chose to take them down an unexpected path. They also had some surplus from a separate blended product. This takes up valuable space in the warehouse and as time progresses, oxidises and turns into vinegar.
Rather than pouring their fine fruit, invested money, time and effort down the drain, they decided to get in touch with a contract distiller.
Products to be Distilled
The varieties of cider and perry we processed into spirits, and their original 'faults', were:
Bittersweet Blend: little too much brettanomyces.
Bittersharp Blend: as staunch perfectionists, this just wasn't particularly exciting and surplus to requirement.
Perry 1: unexpectedly milky in colour.
Perry 2: overly acidic and tannic without a home in any of the blends.
Kingston Black: small amount of volatile acidity that didn't fit their desired flavour profile.
How We Helped
Little Pomona chose to work with us on the basis of our extensive fruit knowledge, and understanding of how to use distillation to isolate and remove unwanted flavours to bring out the true character of the fruit. We assessed any faults and, using our state of the art equipment, created a plan to create outstanding spirits.
Working together, we conducted sensory analysis of the liquid and identified 10,000L that was suitable for distillation. This was across a variety of 5 different ciders and perries. They were distilled separately and then moved to inert vessels.
Final Products
The final products we produced for Little Pomona, from 10,000L of cider and perry, were 5 unique eaux de vie.
1. Bittersweet Blend Spirit
2. Bittersharp Blend Spirit
3. Perry 1 Spirit
4. Perry 2 Spirit
5. Kingston Black Spirit
These are now ready to be returned to Little Pomona in inert vessels, where they could be used in the making of brandy, aperitifs, gins, pommeau, or terroir-focussed eaux de vie.
