Leyburn distillers win at San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Distiller Barry Mageean.

A new Leyburn distillery has scooped an award  at the World Spirit Competition in San Francisco.

Taplin & Mageean Spirit Company, which operates from a 200-year-old railway building at Leyburn Station, won a silver award for their Signature Edition Wensleydale Dry Gin.

The company was launched by Chris Taplin and Barry Mageean.

Chris said: “I was fascinated with the explosion in popularity of gin over the past ten years and wanted to find out more.

“Barry had already made his mark in the industry as head distiller with a well known gin company and has several award winning recipes to his name.

“We set about formulating our business plan and looking for suitable venues for the distillery.

“We knew the gin market was already saturated and so it was vital that we joined the party with an exceptional product that would get noticed very quickly.”

In November 2018 the company was launched on a train operated by the Wensleydale Railway.

Barry added: “Our premises licence hadn’t been approved at the time and we had already sold all the tickets for the launch.

“Luckily I spotted a loop hole in the licensing laws which permitted us to serve alcohol without a licence on a moving train – problem solved.”

The company has launched four recipes from their distillery in Leyburn — the signature edition, peach perfect, elderflower orchard and spiced orange.

The pair also have plans to develop the distillery with a retail area, viewing platform and bar.