Banbury area church holds ‘Wash Away your Sin with Gin’ evening to raise money to expand facilities

The tutored gin-tasting, supported by the Cotswold Gin Distillery, takes place in St Mary’s Church, Bloxham on Friday April 22 at 7.30pm.

"This evening is going to be just the tonic for anyone who is abstaining through Lent,” said Sir Tony Baldry, who lives in the village and is supporting the event at the church, close to his home on High Street.

“It will be a real treat for gin lovers and a great opportunity to expand your knowledge of gin,” he said.

Olivia Williams, author of Gin Glorious Gin: How Mother's Ruin Became the Spirit of London, said: “To be a Gin drinker in this day and age is to be born at exactly the right time.

"For the past 300 years the British have been making and drinking gins of varying quantities and qualities, but they have never been so deliciously diverse as they are today.

"Of the 200 commercially available in Britain, many have only existed for a matter of years.

"Since its lowly birth in London’s Georgian backstreets, gin has clawed its way up to respectability through gin palaces, gentlemen’s clubs and the cocktail parties of the bright young things to become the most subtle spirit of the modern bar. The story of gin is a rise from grime to grandeur, from notoriety to acclaim.”

To register to attend, please email [email protected] telling Ian Myson how many tickets you wish to buy and he will send a response email with payment details.

The tutored gin tasting will include: a humorous history of gin and sin; a talk by Richard Jones, of S. H. Jones fame, on the ever-increasing range and variety of gins to choose from; and a briefing from the Cotswold Gin Distillery on how gin is made and how they seek to meet ever-increasing, discerning consumer tastes for gin.

All of this will include opportunities to taste various gins and ‘wash away your sin with gin’, all in aid of the Building our Future campaign for improving and enhancing the facilities at St Mary’s Church.

Tickets are £15 per head. (There are a limited number of tickets which will be sold on a first come first served basis.