Gin cruises coming to Warwickshire

Gin-lovers can now enjoy the taste of the locally-distilled drink whilst seeing the riverside sights of Stratford on the first 40-minute gin cruise to launch in the county.

The cruises, which are a collaboration between the award-winning Shakespeare Distillery and Avon Boating, will launch on Saturday, May 18 and will include a sample of three spirits,a short talk on gin and once the tasting is over guests can enjoy the aptly-named Stratford gin and tonic whilst taking in the sights of the town.

The trips will be held on the first Saturday of the month from June to September and cost £20 per person which includes the gin and tonic and the sample spirits along with the cruise along the River Avon.

Nick Birch, Managing Director of Avon Boating, who have boats seating up to 58 people for the cruises, said: “We wanted to offer one of our tours with a twist and knowing howpopular the gin tours and gin schools at Shakespeare Distillery are, we knew partnering with them would be a great combination.

“We love introducing guests to the history of Stratford and the beautiful sights along the river so I’m sure combining this with award-winning gin tasting will work really well.

“We have tourists from all over the world coming to experience our boat tours and learn more about the history of the area so it will be great to see gin-lovers experiencing this aswell.”

Peter Monks, Director of Shakespeare Distillery said: “Following the success of our recently-launched gin schools, we wanted to provide another new gin experience for guests to try new and exciting gins combined with Avon Boating’s incredibly popular river tours of our stunning town!

“All of our gin is locally-produced at our distillery in Stratford and all of our ingredients and products have strong connections with the area which was a really important aspect for us when setting up the business.

“We’re so excited to get on board and welcome the first guests to try out our gins against the backdrop of Stratford’s top attractions and stunning scenic views.”Both companies have come together in collaboration through their membership of Shakespeare’s England, the Destination Management Organisation for South Warwickshire.

Helen Peters, CEO of Shakespeare’s England, said: “It’s really wonderful to see that we’ve been able to bring together these two fantastic businesses to collaborate and launch a new and unique product, which I’m sure will be very popular with visitors to the area.

“These are the first gin cruises in Warwickshire so it will be great to see gin-lovers enjoying both the fantastic sights of Stratford with the wonderful flavours of the gin.”

Tickets for the gin cruises are £20 per person, for more information click here