James May gets about a bit. From travelling the world and road-testing the world’s greatest cars as part of the presenting team on Top Gear and The Grand Tour, to co-owning a pub in Wiltshire, from being sacked from every job he’s ever had, to eating bull’s bits with Gordon Ramsey, he’s now popping up in your local Waitrose with a gin he has made from….wait for it…. British parsnips.
A bit of backstory: James met the ‘Willy Wonka of gin making’, Master Distiller Hugh Anderson near the pub that James co-owns, the Royal Oak Swallowcliffe in Wiltshire, and a partnership was forged over a love of gin and a mutual disdain for mediocrity. They decided to take James’ idea of a gin distilled from the humble parsnip and turn it into reality. Combining James’s obsession with detail and Hugh’s award-winning expertise, the resulting gin is a meticulously engineered gin, perfect in a G&T and very mixable for those mixologists amongst us. We’re calling it the ‘Jamesification’ of gin…
What initially started out as a bit of fun went from 0 to 60 in record time and has turned into a gin-fuelled monster: an initial run of 1420 bottles sold out instantly, and now James Gin is available in over 40 countries worldwide, the James Gin YouTube channel Planet Gin has over 500k followers, and James was even voted ‘Icon of Gin’ by Gin Magazine. Now thankfully now you’ll be able to pick James Gin Asian Parsnip up on the weekly shop.
James May says: “Any reasonably conceited TV presenter or Hollywood actor will eventually have a go at making a gin. It’s easier than whisky and more interesting than vodka, which is tasteless and therefore pointless. I was conceited enough to try it. But, in my defence, my gin really is mine, not a cynical branding exercise.
Parsnip Gin
I came up with the idea of blending the flavour of parsnip (because it reminds me of England and its dampness) with Asian spices (because they add excitement). And so we created the unimaginatively named Asian Parsnip – celebrating both the homely flavour of that most English of root vegetables and the gastric stimulus of spices from India. It may sound weird at first, but then they said that about the internal combustion engine. And if you don’t believe me, Waitrose like it enough to sell it – and they don’t sell any old rubbish. Not at their prices, anyway.”
John Vine, Waitrose spirits buyer, says: “James Gin isn’t your typical celebrity brand. James has been deeply involved in both the development and marketing from day one—these are flavours crafted with obsessive care and real expertise. The team has built a huge following around James and his ‘Planet Gin’ universe, and we’re thrilled to collaborate in making world-class gin more accessible to a new generation of drinkers.”
Next time you’re steering your trolley through Waitrose, take a pitstop at the booze aisle.
James Gin Asian Parsnip | 40% ABV | Key botanicals: Parsnip, Grains of Paradise, Rosemary | RRP £36 | 70cl | Sweet, spicy, British
