Club raise a glass of most expensive gin in Pete's memory

IT IS the most expensive gin in the world and only six bottles of it are available in the UK every year.
By The Newsroom
Published 24th Jul 2018, 13:08 GMT
Updated 24th Jul 2018, 13:14 GMT
The 4-2-8 Gin Club members raise their glasses of Watenshi Gin to the sky with Cambridge Distillery Commercial Manager Robin Warren-Adamson. Picture: Vernon NashThe 4-2-8 Gin Club members raise their glasses of Watenshi Gin to the sky with Cambridge Distillery Commercial Manager Robin Warren-Adamson. Picture: Vernon Nash
The 4-2-8 Gin Club members raise their glasses of Watenshi Gin to the sky with Cambridge Distillery Commercial Manager Robin Warren-Adamson. Picture: Vernon Nash

And on Saturday the Portsmouth-based 4-2-8 Gin Club opened up a bottle of Watenshi gin and shared a drink in memory of their former chairman Peter Ruddock.

The exclusive drink, made by The Cambridge Distillery, is only sold at Selfridges in London for £2,000 and has a very long waiting list.

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The 4-2-8 Gin Club wrote to Selfridges explaining they wanted to remember Pete with the special gin and were lucky enough to be able to purchase a bottle which was ordered but never collected.

The 4-2-8 Gin Club members raise their glasses of Watenshi Gin to the sky with Cambridge Distillery Commercial Manager Robin Warren-Adamson. Picture: Vernon NashThe 4-2-8 Gin Club members raise their glasses of Watenshi Gin to the sky with Cambridge Distillery Commercial Manager Robin Warren-Adamson. Picture: Vernon Nash
The 4-2-8 Gin Club members raise their glasses of Watenshi Gin to the sky with Cambridge Distillery Commercial Manager Robin Warren-Adamson. Picture: Vernon Nash

It was the fourth bottle of the first batch ever made.

The members gathered at Pete's memorial bench, in Eastney, and made a toast in remembrance of a man described as '˜larger than life' 

Chairman Robin Wilson said: '˜All of us here really do miss Pete. Today wasn't about being miserable, that would have been the furthest thing from Pete.

'˜He was always a really uplifting guy and was always laughing. This was the perfect way to remember him and pay tribute.'

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Robin Warren-Adamson, commercial manager at The Cambridge Distillery, attended the event to explain how Watenshi gin is made and hand over the bottle which is made from blown glass and has a silver-plated feather.

The 4-2-8 Gin Club, who meet at the White Horse in Southsea, has 17 members all of who love gin.

When members go abroad, they always buy a bottle and so far the club has tried more than 200 kinds.

It was started in 2015 and Pete, who helped found the group, got to enjoy it for a year before sadly dying in 2016 aged 64.

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Jake Adams, who helped secure the bottle of Watenshi, said: '˜Pete was a really lovely man. 'Happy days' was his phrase and it was his idea originally to get the bottle of Watenshi. He was a larger than life man.'

In a toast to Pete along Eastney seafront with the gin, Robin added: '˜Today is dedicated in part to sampling this most expensive of gins and we do this in the fond memories of Pete.

'˜A toast to Pete. Here was a man of constant dos, here was a man of tickety boos.

'˜Here was a man of friendly ways, here was a man of happy days.'

As part of the event, the 4-2-8 Gin Club also donated a cheque of £1,000 to the Rowans Hospice.

Related topics:Portsmouth