How it works

A sophisticated flavour combination providing a wonderful balance between citrus & savoury.

58 Gin is produced in a traditional manner using beautiful alembic copper stills. The distinctive smooth and clean taste of 58 is largely down to the single shot distillation process where the head and tail parts are cut off (the spirit produced first and last in distillation) leaving more of the heart. This removes any initial sharpness or unpleasant aftertaste and is replaced with a crisp taste and a soft finish.

Lawbreaker, rule bender, pioneer & gentleman. One man's journey to create the perfect gin.

The 58 Gin story began when Mark Marmont moved to London from Australia. But it wasn't until settling near to The Bar With No Name, that Mark discovered what would become his true passion. Shortly after arriving in London, Mark became a frequent visitor to the bar, sampling the multiple gin-based cocktails on offer. Before long, Mark was fully immersed in investigating the distillation process and exploring how gin was made as he couldn't find a gin that he liked. In the couple of experimental years that followed, Mark became affectionately known as ‘Moonshine Mark' by the regulars at the bar. It was during this time that he perfected the recipe, and 58 Gin was born, named after Mark's house number.

Fifty Eight Gin is a one man band operation. The gin is distilled under a railway arch in Hackney Downs by its Australian founder Mark Marmont, a former dive instructor and boat skipper who fell in love with the cocktail industry - and gin particularly - when he moved to London in early 2007.

Mark developed an interest in setting up his own distillery after helping his wife establish her business. After a year of tasting and tinkering he had the recipe - his perfect blend of savoury and citrus. Mark was experimental in his choice of botanicals, making interesting substitute choices, such as bergamot for lime.

Fifty Eight Gin was named after his address, 58 Colebrooke Row, a domicile which may well ring a bell for cocktail connoisseurs, as it's only a few doors down from award-winning bar 69 Colebrooke Row. In fact, Mark has cited the bar - and particularly its star barman Tony Conigliaro - as a huge influence in the production of his spirit. He decided to drop the “colebrooke road” part of the address out as to not confuse customers as to where it was made. Call it an nod, as opposed to a birth place if you will...

58 Gin uses a total of nine botanicals: juniper, coriander, angelica, bergamot, lemon, pink grapefruit, cubeb berries, orris root and vanilla. Mark actually peels and dries the bergamot himself, and buys the orris root and angelica from a Chinese herbalist, which ensures that they are of optimum freshness.

The base of the gin is a 50% ABV wheat based spirit. This, along with the botanicals, is poured into Mark's trusty 60 litre Portuguese Alembic pot still, and is left to steep overnight. 58 Gin is made using a “one-shot” method and Mark, dedicated to the craft as he is, makes sure that distillation is done as slowly as possible (typically six hours) to maximize the extracted flavour. The gin is then bottled at 43% ABV.

Fifty Eight gin has a citrus lift on the nose, leading to a classic flavour prolife of juniper and coriander to taste. The Angelica and vanilla help anchor the gin while the trio of citrus emerge once more. Even though it is by no means a citrusy gin, the pink grapefruit and bergamot peel stand out throughout and make it an ideal choice for a G&T. The fact that it is a delicate balance of citrus and spice also give you many options come Martini time. Both served with a citrus twist of served with an olive work impeccably here. This is tasty Gin.

As with all new endeavours, it took a few attempts to get right. The first six batches of 58 Gin showed a little variance, but Mark has established the formula to create a really consistent product, which is made in batches of under a hundred bottles.

The bottle is undeniably cool too. It's stout, with a cork topper and a logo that will stand out on shelves. Designed by The Family Business tattoo artist Mo Coppoletta, the image plays homage to the 1930s prohibition era and as such is a tribute to 58 Gin itself, which was created with cocktails of that period in mind. Even the ink has been carefully selected, with Mark picking a metalling blue said to remind him of the shimmer of a G&T in the sunshine.

58 Distillery also makes seasonal gins - there's been a sloe, an elderflower and an Oregon grape gin in the range, with all seasonal botanicals sourced by John the Poacher, a London-based forager with an uncanny knowledge of locally grown edibles.

With more seasonal fruit infusions being planned, the ever changing seasonal releases from the distillery will no doubt continue to nurture Mark's creative streak and provide some interesting limited editions for 58 Gin fans. Our favourite so far has been the Oregon grape, with its spiced yet resinous profile - it is a fantastic alternative to the sloe gin over the winter months.

58 Gin is likely to see rapid growth in 2016, as Mark has carried out a round of investment that allows him to become duty bonded and to add to the 58 Distillery team. The latter is a factor he'll need to pursue as he eyes up export opportunities in New Zealand and Australia. Adding staff to the roster will also allow Mark to show people around his studio sized distillery, something he is quite keen to do but which he can't currently manage, as opening the door puts a stop to the wider operation while he tours visitors around.

To add to the 58 Gin success story, there's even talk of two more sister expressions bolstering the “core range” ranks this year. With that and the inevitable expansion, things are looking incredibly bright for Mark Marmont and his days of being a one-man band will soon seem like a distant memory...

Small batch London dry gin - light & refreshing with a pleasing juniper hit

Inspired by a secret 100 year old illicit recipe “The illicit Story”: Ian Puddick bought this old Bakery to operate his business of Crisis Management Consultant. After multiple legal issues after having to take down the Old chimney for safety issue he discovered that this Bakery was producing illegal gin 100+ years ago. Gin lovers he decided to track down the recipe by contacting the relatives of the owner to bring this Gin alive but on the legal side this time.

In 2013 I bought some run down properties in a small cobbled mews in Palmers Green, the properties are located close to the crystal clear waters of the new river, which was opened in 1613 and still today contributes to London’s drinking water.

I bought the properties to operate my business out of, my name is Ian Puddick and my background is operating a Management Consultant specialising in Business to Customer Communications and Crisis Communication, I have had the privilege of advising Buckingham Palace, The Cabinet Office and CEO Communications for Vodafone, Rolls Royce and many more. My other business is very different, it’s a Leak Detection Company which owns specialist Trademarked Technology Zect™ Leak Tracer Agent which means our technicians can locate hidden leaks even when pipe work is buried deep underground without any digging, mess or destruction.

The buildings I purchased were:

- The Old Stables (once the horse and cart stables for the bakery next door)

- The Old Bakery complete with beautiful 140ft* tall London brick built chimney, sadly the chimney was so unsafe we had to take it down *the chimney was once over 200ft tall

- The Old Grain Store (General Store for the Bakery and its here we believe they made the illicit Gin)

- The Old Stables, the Old Bakery and the Old Grain Store having been sensitively redeveloped keeping all original features including roof finials, in fact Enfield Council have since decided to place the buildings on the Listed ‘Heritage Buildings of historic interest’.

In late 2013, we regretfully had to remove the wonderful 140ft Bakery brick chimney as the chimney structure was unsafe, in doing so, we opened up a legal can of worms as we found the land registration had erroneously stated that the chimney belonged to a neighbouring domestic home. This issue has now all been sorted however during the legal research to identify and understand how and where the original land registry problem had occurred we discovered that 100+ years ago the old bakery had a secret (& a few more which we will share in the future) ... they made illegal Gin !!

Being a Gin lover I set out to rediscover the secret Gin History of the OId Bakery ... and see if I could make it happen again ... but this time on the right side of the law.

Incidentally, in July 2016 Barry Maysh once a local resident popped into the Mews, over a cup of tea I learnt another secret, between 1938 – 1960 The Old Stables was home to Tom Maysh Master Bike Manufacturer, Tom Maysh was Barry’s grandad ….Tom handmade bikes for the British Rally Team and also the British Olympic team.

There was talk that the original illcit Gin recipe included Stinging Nettle leaves, however we have tried to make it 100’s of different ways including Stinging nettles (inc freezing the leaves & leaving them to soak in trays of sugar) but each time the taste has been awful.

The original recipe may have been lost in time ... but we think this is as close as it gets. Please enjoy Old Bakery Gin

Servicing Suggestions:- Juniper berries & orange, Raspberries Cucumber & Rosemary or Lime & Rosemary, Lemons & Ice or Blackberries & Ice