Six Dogs Distillery

It began, as so many good things do, in the most humble way: a shed normally used to house our six dogs and an old copper geyser converted into a still. From there the dream unfolded to make a gin that would make a difference in the South African craft distillery industry and abroad.

Distiller Charles Bryant was soon joined by his brother Glenn and friend Luigi Marucchi who shared the desire to create something really special. When it came to the still, we decided to re-invent the wheel by custom-designing a traditional copper still to our precise specifications.Our research into molecular distillation revealed that some of the delicate botanicals would be better preserved by being distilled under vacuum and blended later. What started off as an exploration of technology and botany evolved into a passion – and that’s how Six Dogs gin came into the world.

Distilled in South Africa, at the Fringe of the Karoo

No one really knows where the Karoo, a semi-desert natural region of South Africa, begins and ends. We do know, however, that in our little valley of De Wet, nestled between the Breede River Valley and the Hex River Valley, the wild things grow!
We use some of these wild plants of the Karoo in our gin, also growing our own botanicals whilst supporting neighbouring farmers who grow specific fruit for us.

Our distillery was built with a view of the mountains and the greater Karoo, looking up towards the valley from which we get the purest mountain water ever, and yes, you guessed right – that’s the source of the water we use to make our gin. In the evenings, we can just see the lights of Worcester behind us as we take in the beautiful view up the valley and wonder if the Karoo doesn’t actually begin right here at the distillery.