First Impressions
In 1869, W&A Gilbey relocated to Camden, establishing one of London's largest gin distilleries in underground vaults along the Grand Union Canal. Hidden trapdoors let barges offload gin directly into the warehouses below. The operation ran until 1964 — street names like Juniper Crescent and Gilbeys Yard survive. In 2014, Mark Holdsworth — a Camden native who discovered this history walking the canal towpath to work — returned gin to Camden Lock. The name? The rope knot used to moor those barges: a half hitch.
Tasting
Three techniques converge: copper pot distillation at Langley's for the base gin, vacuum distillation for delicate hay, and hand-crafted tinctures of Malawian black tea, Calabrian bergamot, English wood and pepper blended in the Camden vaults. The nose is zesty lemon oils with pine resin and loose-leaf tea. On the palate, bergamot and tea dominate with rich caramel viscosity — waxy lemon and piney juniper at the front, powerful cracked black pepper at the back. The finish lingers on tea tannins and dry pepper.
The Bottom Line
Half Hitch earns an 8 for genuine innovation rooted in genuine history. The tea-bergamot signature creates something both peculiar and intriguing — an Earl Grey gin that never uses the phrase. Where many contemporary gins reach for novelty, Holdsworth reached into Camden's canal-side past and found something truly distinctive. Best as a Twisted Martini on the rocks with an orange twist, where the tannins and pepper can breathe.
