Halewood International
Halewood Artisanal Spirits is a global distiller and distributor of premium artisanal spirits.
Founded | 1978 |
---|---|
Founder | John Edward Halewood |
Products | Premium artisanal spirits, including Whitley Neill Gin, JJ Whitley Vodka , Dead Man’s Fingers Rum, Crabbie whisky, Samuel Gelston's Irish whiskey, The Pogues Irish whiskey |
Owner | The Estate of the late John Edward Halewood |
Number of employees | c.750 |
Website | www |
Structure
Halewood Artisanal Spirit's head office is in London [1] and the company distils across the UK, at the following locations:
- London - City of London Distillery, Home of Whitley Neill Gin
- Edinburgh - The Bonnington Distillery, Home of John Crabbie Whisky
- Snowdonia, North Wales - Aber Falls Distillery
- Bristol - The Bristol & Bath Rum Distillery
- Liverpool - Liverpool Gin Distillery
- Blackpool - The Bankhall Distillery
- Berkshire - Yattendon Distillery
- Lancashire - The Sovereign Distillery
- The Lake District - Willow Distillery
Halewood also operates distilleries in:
- Russia
- South Africa
The Halewood Group has six operations outside the UK in Australia, China, Russia, South Africa, Thailand and the United States.
Products
- Whitley Neill Gin
- JJ Whitley Vodka
- JJ Whitley Gin
- Dead Man's Fingers Rum
- Crabbie Whisky
- The Pogues Irish Whiskey
- Vestal Polish Vodka
- Marylebone Gin
- Aber Falls Welsh Whisky, gin and liqueurs
- Liverpool Gin
- Samuel Gelston's Irish Whiskey
- Sadler's Peaky Blinder spirits
- Berkshire Botanical gin
- Bankhall whisky
History
John Halewood
In 1978 John Halewood created his company, selling Bulgarian wines from his garage, and launched his first product - Club Royal (sherry). In 1987 he purchased Hall & Bramley and Lamb and Watt, amalgamating their products into his existing portfolio. In 1990 he formed a Joint Venture in Romania just after the fall of the Berlin Wall and followed up with an acquisition of Red Square Vodka in 1991, which he reconfigured into the new Ready to Drink market with Red Square Ice. In 1994, after witnessing the success of Lambrusco Italian wine he launched Lambrini sparkling perry which quickly became the company's largest selling product.
As an entrepreneur, John saw opportunities very early on in the market, his brilliant move was Crabbie's, when he purchased the ginger wine brand from Glenmorangie in 2002 and then created the alcoholic ginger beer, which was an entirely new category in 2009. Subsequently, the company has taken the Crabbie brand back to its roots and has built a whisky distillery in Edinburgh.
In 2009 John purchased Whitley Neill Gin from Johnny Neill, prior to the start of the “gin revolution”, Johnny was appointed as a Brand Ambassador to maintain brand provenance and brand advocacy.
John Halewood passed away in October 2011, his legacy leaving the largest independent producer and distributor of alcoholic products by volume in the UK.
In April 2021, the company name changed from Halewood International to Halewood Artisanal Spirits (UK).[2]
Today
In a little over 40 years, Halewood Artisanal Spirits has grown from a start-up company to become one of the UK's largest independent premium artisanal spirits distillers, with a turnover of more than £400 million, selling approximately 10 million cases each year and exporting to 75 countries. Over the past three years, the business has invested significantly in its artisanal distilleries and now distils at 11 different locations around the world.
Major Brands
Whitley Neill Gin
Whitley Neill was created by Johnny Neill, a direct descendant of eight generations of distillers. It is a multi-award-winning gin range handcrafted at 43% ABV, which includes Whitley Neill Original London Dry Gin and Rhubarb & Ginger Gin. As UK's No. 1 Premium Gin brand, Whitley Neill produces multiple flavoured gin variants such as – Raspberry, Blood Orange, Parma Violet, Blackberry, Gooseberry and the variants of London Dry gin variants, such as Connoisseur’s Cut and Oriental Spiced Gin. The brand is distributed in over 50 countries globally.
JJ Whitley Vodka & Gin
The Whitley and Neill families have been involved in the creation of fine spirits for eight generations, using ingredients and flavour inspiration from around the world. The range is named after John James Whitley – the first of the Whitley family to start distilling in 1762.
The JJ Whitley Vodka range includes plain and flavoured vodkas as well as a unique gold filtered artisanal vodka. In addition to JJ Whitley Vodka, the brand produces a range of London Dry and flavoured gins.
Dead Man's Fingers Rum
First created at the Rum & Crab Shack at St. Ives, Cornwall, England in 2015, Dead Man's Fingers rum is a balanced blend of Caribbean rum and spices designed for versatility in long drinks and cocktails. It is the UK's number 2 premium spiced/flavoured rum brand and growing rapidly in many countries including Russia, China and Australia.
The range includes – the original Spiced Rum and flavour variations Pineapple, Mango, Banana, Cherry, Hazelnut, Passion Fruit, Lime, Raspberry, Coffee, Coconut and one of the world's first CBD infused rums – Hemp Rum.
Crabbie Whisky
John Crabbie & Co is one of the oldest names in Scottish distilling with its founder, John Crabbie, being a pioneer during the 19th century. He was one of the first to independently bottle whisky and developed the idea of blending whiskies to improve quality and consistency.
The company was the first to produce single malt whisky in Edinburgh for nearly 100 years, starting at The Chain Pier Distillery in October 2018, with production following at Bonnington in late 2019. Whilst this whisky is maturing, Crabbie Whisky is bottling selected casks of malt whisky from across Scotland, just as John Crabbie did 200 years previously.
Aber Falls Whiskey
Aber Falls is the first whisky distillery in North Wales for over 100 years, sitting at the foot of the famous Aber Falls waterfall. Previously a slate works in the 19th century, a margarine factory during the world wars, and more recently a drinks wholesaler depot, the building has been restored and refurbished to house the distillery and popular visitor centre which attracts over 50,000 visitors a year.
Aber Falls Whisky was first released in Autumn 2021 and the range features limited releases of whisky alongside a Single Malt variant. The Aber Falls Distilery also produces a range of gins and liqueurs.
The Pogues Irish Whiskey
A collaboration between the band, The Pogues and Halewood Artisanal Spirits led to the creation of The Pogues Irish Whiskey. The shared aim of the partnership was to create an Irish whiskey that encapsulated the ‘rule breaking’ nature of both parties, with an exceptionally smooth and easy-drinking, but also very versatile new whiskey.
Both Halewood, and Frank McHardy, a renowned whiskey expert with 50 years’ experience (and a ‘Whisky Hall of Fame’ recipient) were both fully engaged to use their skills to perfect the blended variant. The Pogues Whiskey is aged in American Bourbon Oak and has won multiple gold awards at the San Francisco World Spirits awards.
References
- "HALEWOOD ARTISANAL SPIRITS (UK) LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Gov UK. 7 February 2000.
- "Change company name resolution on 2021-04-01". Gov.uk. 1 April 2021. p. 2. Retrieved 1 April 2021.