Dutch Barn Vodka

Dutch Barn Vodka is the flagship fermentable at the Ellers Farm Distillery.

Co-owned by comedian Ricky Gervais, it’s an award-winning, artisan English vodka made from apples in North Yorkshire and was the boozy brainchild of ethical entrepreneur Chris Fraser.

In 2018, after buying a country pad complete with an enormous ancient orchard, he began fermenting all the excess apples and started making cider. He asked neighbours to provide more apples and then, over time, he ended up with far too much cider.

When life gives you too many apples, make vodka! Especially as, at that time, there was no-one making vodka with apples.

With no distilling expertise beyond tinkering around with a pressure cooker, Chris acquired Jamie Baggot as their Head Distiller, one of the global spirit’s scene most internationally awarded professionals.

Jamie helped develop the brand, recipe and business plan and in 2021 the distillery was constructed within the confines of a unique “Dutch Barn” building. In 2022 the liquid was produced. A year later, Ricky Gervais joined forces with the brand.

After turning the apples into concentrate, the folks at Ellers Farm Distillery distil more than 70 times on what is the tallest column still in Europe. The result? An absurdly smooth, incredibly crisp, pure and clean vodka with hints of white pepper and a beautiful big mouthfeel.

During distillation, they taste the vodka every 20 minutes to ensure it remains distinctively crisp, clean and exceptionally smooth.

It’s an immensely eco-friendly vodka too. Their bottles are made from 68% recycled brown glass (a material proven to protect the vodka), and they are B-Corp accredited – which means they are not plonkers to people they work with or, indeed, the planet.