A Week on the Estate: Woodchip Spreading, Tree Planting & Gin Rectifying

The team will keep an eye on the new saplings as they develop, removing the bindings and meshes when they’re self-sufficient. Sheepdip Paddock is well on its way to being a good, all-weather parking area for walkers. The grippy matting installed last May with fixing pegs has been further secured by new grass. If you’re planning to explore the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds this spring, don’t forget to peruse our downloadable trail guides HERE and claim your complimentary tea, coffee, soup and flapjacks HERE.

Once they’d downed tools, the Saturday Club enjoyed an enrichment talk from PCSO Louise Borman of Lincolnshire Police. Louise’s beat includes Mablethorpe and Alford, and besides helping to keep us all safe she works closely with our region’s young people to break down barriers, share understanding and build constructive relationships. We’re grateful to Louise for sharing her valuable time with the team.

Last but never least, Tristan Jørgensen is as busy as ever at the Massingberd-Mundy Distillery but still found time to share some insights into the rectification process, a key aspect of his craft. As we discovered, a typical distillation creates three cuts. The first 300-400ml is methanol, known as the heads. The next 2-4 hours of output produces the good stuff; the refined alcohol fit for fine gin and known as the hearts. In the final hours of the process, the output runs down from 60% to 0% proof, producing the tails.

Instead of wasting material and incurring disposal costs and transport miles, Tristan has chosen to re-refine the leftover liquid. The heads and tails are re-rectified into flavourless, re-usable base spirit, starting at 25% and ending at 96% proof. This effort keeps the whole process lossless and sustainable and helps create the moreish, award-winning gin so many of our readers have enjoyed.

If you’ve yet to discover our award-winning gin, our Miniature Gin Gift Set can be yours for £10 delivered. It’s just the thing for a zesty spring.

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