East London Liquor Company

We had a Gin tasting tour. The whole experience was great. Ryan our guide was friendly, engaging and knowledgeable. It was fun and informative. He made us experience the brewery through smell and taste, asking questions and challenging us in recognising notes of different herbs and spices in the Gin making process. An advice, make sure you have something to eat before starting the tour or you end up a bit tipsy at the end (which is not necessarily a bad thing).

Was given the whiskey tour as a gift and really enjoyed the whole experience. Great tour guide (Jess) - showed great knowledge of the process. Tasting was excellent and we both really enjoyed the varieties of whiskey on offer. Went to the restaurant afterwards, small but perfectly comfortable. Staff were very attentive, food great and this rounded off a lovely afternoon for us both. Would highly recommend to any whiskey or whisky drinker.

What can I say about the east London liquor company that's not been said before, well it has to be said that it's a fantastic welcoming delicious tasty informative and thoroughly enjoyable place to visit. My wife bought me a gin tour for my birthday and we had a fantastic time due to the brilliant staff. If you don't like gin then they do tours for whiskey, rum and vodka. We will definitely be returning in the near future, I have my eye on a few bottles in their shop. All in all a must visit.

I bought the Whisky Lover’s Tour and Tasting as a birthday present for my partner, and we both really enjoyed it! The room downstairs where we tasted 5 whiskies really set the scene; being dark, moody and full of casks. The host was brilliant, imparting lots of whisky knowledge whilst also giving us the space to enjoy and taste whiskies together. Overall, a really well put together experience in a gorgeous hipster distillery. I’ll be returning for sure!

We truly enjoyed our Gin experience tour. It was great to get a behind the scenes look at how the Gin is made. However here the making is on display via a big window behind the bar so there are no secrets except in the skilled distillers heads. So once we had seen the how, it was down stairs to learn the whys. Lots of different gins to try and have the details explained to us. Would recommend it as a fun time out.

East London Liquor Company is an independent distillery in East London (unsurprisingly!) producing and importing a range of spirits including gin, vodka, rum and whisky. They sell their spirits at the bar as well as in Borough Wines, Fortnum and Masons, Harvey Nichols and many more retailers in the UK and around the world. It is much bigger than we expected with a gorgeous archway entrance adorned with flowers and fairy lights. There is a garden area for those sunny days, a restaurant area (which you can hire privately) and a bar/restaurant area. With a warehouse vibe with exposed brickwork, it is a great place to chill out and enjoy some great food and drink. It was great to see the bar and restaurant at ELLC work so closely together by combining the spirits with the food. After all, it is not that often you get to take advantage of your own distillery in East London! There was a real sense of the guys at ELLC working as a team and sharing ideas and creations, which we thought was great. First up we tried their twist on a Negroni (£9) with Negroni Pickles (£3) and the Homemade Bread, Olive Oil, Balsamic (£3) and the Full Amontillado ELLC Vodka, Banana Liqueur, Roobios Tea, Tonic Water (£8). This was a great start to the evening with two fairly dry cocktails paired with some salty delights. The foccacia was absolutely AMAZING – so light, salty and moreish! The small plates have an Italian food focus, with a stone oven and array of seasonal sharing plates. ELLC works with a range of producers to source the freshest & highest-quality ingredients from across the UK and Italy. Headed up by Chef Ewelina who has years of experience, including having worked with Jason Atherton, the menu has been well thought through and executed. The plates come out as they are ready so you can enjoy each one warm and chat in between. Between us we had: Bagna Cauda & Artichoke Hearts: anchovies, yellow pepper, chervil, smoked paprika olive oil (£8) Tuscan Macancini: Gorgonzola, Grana Padano & Fontina cheeses, panko crumb, truffle oil (£5) Burrata: ELLC Demerara rum & red wine & tomato marmalade, pesto (£9) Baked Tomino Del Boscaiolo Cheese: Speck, hazelnuts, smoked paprika, fig, fennel flatbread (£9) Salmon & Sorrel: Fillet of salmon, sorrel sauce, romanseco, dill oil (£12) Pork & Polenta: Slow-cooked pork neck steak, marinated with ELLC Batch №2 gin botanicals, polenta purée, pickled shallots ELLC gin jus (£13) We were genuinely impressed by all of the dishes. Our must orders are the Tuscan Macancini – their take on a mac and cheese arancini. Lighted coated with panko crumb, they were filled with delicious oozing cheese (3 kinds!). The Burrata was one of the best that we have tasted. The tomato marmalade and pesto worked so well and added an extra punch to the dish. Lastly, the speck with the Baked Tomino Cheese was so flavoursome and we loved dipping the flatbread into the melted cheese. As to the drinks, ELLC is trying to bring looked over classics back to life by making them longer and adding their own twist. We loved their Cosmo (served long of course) with the addition of cider. It was fresh and fruity without being too sweet – perfect for me. We also tried the No Riesling to Complain ELLC Batch № 1 Gin, Riesling Liqueur, Orange, Cider Short/ Fragrant/ Fresh (£9) We only just about had room for dessert after that feast! We had the Creme Caramel, ELLC Rum Glaze (£8) which was smooth but a little too boozy for me! The raspberry ice cream served with a biscuit was spot on – it was fresh and SO fruity. Great if you want something sweet but not too heavy. What a great place! We should have visited sooner and can’t wait to return. The drinks and food exceeded our expectations and Ewelina and the Manager, Kyle, were so passionate and knowledgeable about ELLC, the heritage and origins of the products and were just super friendly!

Visited the place with some colleagues from work! A very nice guide showed us around and explained to us everything about how the company came to be as well as the process of gin making. We got to do some tasting, which was wonderful. There were some tasty cocktails indeed! And the food was 👌🏼

We came for a whisky tour and lunch. Waiting in the bar was a great start, a lovely bright space with a huge window through to the distillery making it feel very special straight away. We were given an Old Fashioned while we waited for the tour to start which was delicious. The tour was great fun and very informative. The distillery were completely transparent about every step of their process. The tour guide Jess was knowledgeable, passionate and humorous. We ended with a fascinating tasting of a rum and five delicious whiskys from Ireland (Green Spot), Japan (Nikka Coffey Malt), America (Sonoma Bourbon & Rye) and a Scotch Islay. After the tour we went back to the bar and had a pizza with two sides. The portions weren't huge but the price was fine and the food was delicious. We also checked out the bottle shop which is well stocked and interesting but you can find most of their selection cheaper elsewhere. Bar, tour and food all highly recommended.

Closed, would have been nice yo know before making the trek out from downtown. Heard the gin was great.

Managed to bag a spot on a Yelp event, learning about and tasting gin. Very interesting place, with the distillery on full display behind the bar. Staff are extremely knowledgeable and passionate. There's also a serious array of gin, whiskey and rum to get stuck in to. If you're into spirits you need to check this place out.

I've become a huge fan of this place. It's gorgeous and you can get a pint of Camden Hell's for £4! I mean where else can you get it that cheap? Really! I've been bringing people here since then and everyone has been in awe. The whole place is designed wonderfully. The staff is always very friendly. The prices are fair if not dirt cheap for quality drinks. Only knocks are the outdoor area is nice, but it's next to a parking lot, but it's not busy at all so not so bad. And you wish you were a few meters over and sitting on the actual canal, but oh well. Also it's not always busy, but then again they are a distillery first and a bar second. Which brings me to my final item. They have an off-license and as I understand it will sell whenever the bar is open. There's a building next door and just tell the bar keep that you want to look in. They have several of their own spirits they sell (Gin, Infused Gin, Rum, Whiskey, etc) as well as dozens upon dozens of rare and unique spirits from other distillery's around the world. They can walk you through each one and they vary from the affordable (£19 for their own basic Gin) to more moderate £30 fancy spirits and up. I mean this little room is so much fun it's worth 5 stars on its own.

Super delicious own brand Gin. Tucked away in a car park. Wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for it. Dangerously close to a gym. Really lovely interior with a warm atmosphere (exposed walls with old bulbs etc). They make their gin in the back which you can see through the window behind the bar. Was luckily enough to have a tour of the distillery and James was super informative and awesome. Drink the gin!!

I'm a massive fan of the East London Liquor Company and regularly pop down to their bottle shop to grab some of the incredible gin they make on site. It was the obvious choice for birthday drinks and myself and friends had a great time. The staff are very friendly and relaxed and it wasn't too busy that it was hard to get a drink. They've just been renovating their bottle shop to also house a restaurant, which serves anti-pasti and pizza and have expanded their outside space which looked great. If you want relaxed, delicious drinks this is the place for you.

The cab driver who took us hear was wondering about the attraction since he'd never taken tourists here. He then offered to wait in the parking lot to give us a ride back to our hotel (much appreciated!) This is a boutique distillery currently making vodka and gin and working on some whiskey. They have a full bar program and I believe they have a restaurant as well. A nice detour if you want to do where the tourist aren't. Visited September 2016

A bit hidden from the road, in Bow Wharf, next to a gym and a few very nice little shops, sits the East London Liquor Company. I went there on a sunday night, it was mainly young professionals, pretty quiet and friendly. The place looks like many bars do now - bit of an industrial cosy feel if you know what I mean. Quite nice but nothing very special. Seats are comfy, tables wide enough. Behind the bar though, through a window, you can see where they make their own alcohols - particularly gin. Therefore, to my delight, they have many gin cocktails - with exotic names such as the Darjeeling Unlimited or Murder on the Mandarin express (which I tried and is very flavourful and original). When I went there they had a battle between two Oreo-based cocktails, and the winner is going to be added to the cocktail list. Cocktails are around £8-9 but for once well worth it. The staff is friendly, the place looks nice and is very near Victoria Park - you can enjoy a walk on a crisp winter day and them come here to warm up with delicious alcohols. They also have food (cured meats from Reiner and Reiner and cheeses from another nice place which name I can't remember right now) but I haven't tried it. The bar opened this year and already seems to have a few regulars. I can understand why, if you live in the area it's ideal. Might be way busier on weekends though - I might try soon just to check.

Nice. Head away from the Thames...East side. Make sure to eat the smoked plates and order a "Tall Peat" invented here!!

I was invited into the heart of the East London Liquor Company's operations as part of Yelp's Festival of Friendship 2015 for an hour long distillery tour. A small group of Yelp users were greeted with a classic gin and tonic made with the Easter London Liquor Company's London dry gin and had time to mingle and introduce ourselves before being ushered behind the bar to see how their gins, rums and vodka are made in situ. We were given an informative overview by James, who was obviously at the crux of the distilling process and offered a scientific perspective on spirits- we learned about the ingredients used in distilling gin and what chemistry is involved in retaining any infused flavours (the effect of rising gases and the significance of the head, heart and tails of a batch of gin were particularly interesting). I am not remotely empirically-inclined and won't profess to grasping everything, but it was nonetheless fascinating to be introduced to the many concepts behind an excellent bottle of gin! After our tour, we were invited to sample three varieties of gin and their vodka- after such a detailed overview of the idiosyncrasies of the different batches, I was looking forward to discovering the varied notes for myself and found it very easy to drink all of the spirits neat because they were of such high quality. We sampled the house gin and the premium batches- number 1 and number 2- all of which had distinct flavours and were agreeable in their unique way. James helpfully suggested what garnish was appropriate for each gin depending on the flavour notes- a sage leaf for the herbier batch number 2, for instance, which was surprising. There is a bottle shop onsite that sells the products distilled in the bar and a bottle of standard gin is priced at an affordable £18 while the premium gins are on sale for £21. The way that the East London Liquor Company is defining itself is highly focused on their price point, so they are committed to supplying a quality range of spirits at a much lower price than its competitors- when you sample the standard gin for yourself, I guarantee that you will be shocked that you can purchase it for the same price as some of the ubiquitous brands in your local supermarket. The East London Liquor Company is a young London venture with a great product, so make sure to stop by their ambient bar to try their gin-based cocktails for yourself. Thank you to Pamela H and Yelp for this opportunity to meet some interesting people and for arranging this event- it was elucidating and I relish opportunities to go behind the scenes of local start-ups, so keep them coming!

I live local to this hidden gem of a bar. I finally managed to pop in after wanting to for a while. I love a good G&T, where better to get one than at a Gin distillery! The bar is situated in front of the distillery which looks reminiscent of an old submarine, lots of shiny cooper tanks and pipes. It's decked out in an industrial chic vibe, which is cool but nothing rave about and would look very plain if it weren't for the distillery for interest. Now to the Gin. You would think they would put a blurb on the menu about their fabulous Gins but instead one of the bar staff explained about it by shouting across to our table, which was a bit awkward as were weren't the only ones there and I felt bad for the other customers. There is a nice selection of interesting cocktails, a bit of bar food available and local beers and cider too. I think there a was wine but I don't remember looking. Overall a nice quiet bar to come and sip cocktails, will definitely be coming back. Hopefully book in a tour one day!

Great date spot. Awesome cocktails and atmosphere. Bartenders were friendly. I had an old fashioned - lots of options besides gin. Highly recommend!