Before you owned a spirits business, which preconceived notions did you have that turned out not to be true?
We started this business very early on in the “craft” boom. We genuinely never expected to see our products side-by-side with the big brands, let alone beat them in major awards and have world-class operators switch out products to make space for our homemade recipes.
Was there one moment when you realized, “This is actually going to be successful.”
Early on, when we were still working from our kitchen table in Macclesfield Forest, we put our very first batch of Forest Gin up for sale. We didn’t have a marketing budget or a PR agency – just a local product we believed in. The local pubs and farmers’ markets were not too interested initially in expensive gin in ceramic bottles. Remarkably though, the first orders came in from high-end department stores and Michelin-starred restaurants. Then six months later, we were awarded two separate double-gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirit Awards. That was the moment Lindsay and I looked at each other and thought: Right, we’ve actually got something here. And we quit our day jobs!
What has been the hardest part of this business that nobody warned you about?
The sheer, unrelenting time lag of whisky, and the bureaucracy that comes with it! When you distill whisky, you are putting huge amounts of cash into barrels and burying it away for years, praying that future-you will be rewarded. We’re not accountants or hardened business people. We just thought that making Single Malt Whisky would be an amazing thing to try to acheive. We are so proud of the whisky in barrel, but seem to spend more time with the bank manager than over a tasting table!
Was there ever a day when you seriously considered walking away? What kept you here?
Oh, absolutely. Usually on a freezing Tuesday in January when the wind is howling at 60mph outside the Cat & Fiddle, a pipe has frozen, the main road is blocked by snow, and you’re looking at a bank statement wondering how you’re going to cover the next tax bill. What keeps me here is looking out over the Peak District hills with a glass of our own whisky by the fire, looking at what Lindsay, the team, and I have built from scratch. It’s a proper, living piece of British heritage. You can’t walk away from that.
What’s one decision you made that everyone questioned at the time—but you’d make again tomorrow?
Taking over the Cat & Fiddle pub. It was a derelict, shuttered building sitting at the top of what was regularly branded “the most dangerous road in Britain,” 1,689 feet above sea level in the middle of nowhere. People thought we had completely lost our minds moving a distillery up there. But distilling and maturing our whisky here gives it a character you simply cannot replicate in an industrial estate in a city. It gave our business a soul.
Who inside this organization deserves more credit than they get?
Lindsay, and her team, without a shadow of a doubt. I’m usually the one out front chatting, doing the interviews, and working on marketing, but Lindsay is the operational engine that keeps Forest Distillery alive. She oversees the production, the logistics, the admin, and the financial reality checks, all while keeping me grounded. She’d definitely answer with Owen & Nathan – her 2 team members who are at the coal face & distilling every single day.
What part of this place are you most protective of—the thing you would never change just to sell more bottles?
Our ingredients and our water. We use fresh spring water sourced directly from the distillery and localy grown barley, alongside and hand-foraged local botanicals like wild bilberries and gorse flowers. We could easily buy cheap, mass-produced flavorings or industrial products in bulk, cut corners, and make a quick profit. But we won’t. The moment you start faking the liquid to sell a few more cases, you lose all credibility.
What in the spirits industry would you like to see changed and what’s being done right?
What needs changing: Boring answer, but taxation. UK government policy is increasingly making the spirits industry a tough one to operate in.
What’s being done right: The rise of authentic English Whisky. There’s a fantastic, collaborative community of independent English distilleries making world-class whisky right now, unburdened by rigid centuries-old rules and reputations.
Someday this company will belong to somebody else. What do you hope they never change?
I hope they never stop foraging in the forest, and I hope that they continue with our ethos of looking after our local environment and communities.
Last call. You’re not the owner anymore. You’re just another person sitting at the bar. What are you drinking?
Our 5 year old single malt Forest Whisky. Knowing that it’s been made from scratch by my wife means everything to me.
Karl and Lindsay Bond. Lindsay is the distiller and all-around magician. Karl carries heavy things.
