Tarsier Spirits

In 2015 we took a backpacking trip around Southeast Asia. Travelling by plane, boat, bus, motorcycle and tuk-tuk, we ventured around the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. It was here that we fell in love with the region. The landscapes were epic, the food was so fresh and vibrant, and the people were so incredibly friendly towards us.

On our trip we discovered so many amazing flavours. Simple cooking ingredients that really elevated the dishes they were used in. We were in awe of the cuisine and the innate ability of the chefs to take simple ingredients and use simple processes to create perfectly balanced dishes.

On our return to England, we had an idea: Let’s distill the essence of Southeast Asia and bring something new and innovative to the spirits category, so we set about creating our first Southeast Asian Gin. A celebration of the people we met, the places we travelled to, and the ingredients we discovered.

Tarsier Gin was born.

We knew from the start that we wanted to develop and distill the gin ourselves. We wanted each bottle to tell the story of our backpacking adventure and to create a gin that was unique, personal, and full of love and passion.

Where we have lacked expertise, we have learnt it and applied it. Where we have lacked knowledge, we have researched it and gained it. Like the backpacking trip that inspired us, we have set off on our own journey of discovery and adventure…

Countless days and weeks were spent experimenting in our Manchester kitchen, distilling fruits, herbs and spices from the region in our small copper alembic pot still. Searching for a harmonious balance of citrus, floral, and spice we rejected many botanicals until we found our perfect botanical mix. But that was just the start. We kept experimenting, changing ratios, and did endless testing on friends and family until we got the balance just right.

Tarsier Gin is the product of a true devotion to the craft.

We prepare the botanicals by hand and crack the pepper before macerating them in Neutral Grain Spirit overnight.

Distillation takes place in our distillery in Manchester. We follow the London Dry method and only ever do single-shot distillation so the only thing we add to the distillate is pure water. Many other gins are multi-shot so they produce a very concentrated distillate and blend it with neutral spirit to produce five or ten times as many bottles as a single-shot distiller. We believe gin should be pure and never made from concentrate.

Distilled over five hours in our two traditional copper alembic pot stills, named after Florencia & Graciano, Sherwin’s Filipino grandparents. We only collect the hearts of the distillate and discard the often reused heads and tails to ensure each batch is as pure as the last. The distillate is blended with pure water and rested for at least three weeks to allow the complexity of the flavours to develop.

Once the flavour is just right, we fill, label and cork each bottle by hand, individually numbering each one.

We named our gin after the Philippine Tarsier, one of the world’s smallest primates that is native to the Philippines. Characterised by its small stature and big eyes, it perfectly embodied our vision. A small batch gin with big flavour and personality.

We are supporting the Tarsier by donating 10% of our profits to conservation projects in Southeast Asia. Our first partner is the Philippine Tarsier Foundation.