UK ODU Photo Gallery: THIS TIME, WITH VODKA

Twice is probably not a trend, but our second visit to Mousehall, Gary Jordan's (G, 1978) northern hemisphere estate, cousin of Jordan Wines just outside Cape Town, hopefully sets up more to come - with more applying also to additional varieties of spirits to the growing Mousehall portfolio - even as their chardonnay and pinot noir mature in barrels for later enjoyment.

Mousehall Country Estate lies within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in a secluded valley on the northern edge of the parish of Mayfield in East Sussex. Mousehall was first recorded in the Doomsday book in 1086 and since then has been a working farm with a prosperous history. However, pretty much derelict when the Jordans acquired it, it is almost at the end of a painstaking restoration - and most certainly worth a visit.

Gary, wife Kathy and daughter Christy (Chief Distiller) hosted a group of ODs to a gin and vodka tasting (or what we used to call in the UCT Science faculty a lec-dem) on Saturday 15th July where we learnt among other things what a "distillate" was and experimented in creating our own personal brand of gin.

Since last year, Mousehall have garnered four awards (only two shown on the bottle on the right) for their incredible gin and introduced vodka into their repertoire. A crowd of young ODs (and some older ones) listened, learned, sniffed, tasted, swirled and swallowed (never spitting) their way into the alchemic world of high-end spirit-making.

Between the tasting and lunch, we soaked up the alcohol with Kathy's excellent homemade bread, liver paté and humus.

And then we repaired to (and were repaired by) lunch at The Rose & Crown, where we were looked after by a very patient and empathetic Lucy.

Our huge thanks to the Jordans who gave so elegantly and generously of their time, expertise and hospitality. It really was a fantastic experience.

Duty on spirits increases dramatically at midnight on 31 July 2023. The Jordans have very kindly offered ODs a 10% discount on the current prices if orders are received by them by this deadline. The discount code to use is: MH-OD2023. Please order from the Mousehall website (https://www.mousehall.com/) using this code at the checkout.

There is a guest list at the bottom of this post so houses and years are not given in the individual captions.

Click on the photos to enlarge/download

Yes, there are still some ODs who use public transport: David Jordan, Piers and James Johnston and Karl Steinhagen en route to Mousehall (and trying to ignore the rugby)

All was ready for us when we arrived at Mousehall: the distillates which are artfully blended into the final Mousehall gin

Team Jordan: Gary, Christy and Kathy

Gary, a born-teacher, trying to explain to ODs that there really is more to gin than a Sunday morning hangover. Here he is in front of their still which while producing their magnificent gin, is now turning out vodka.

Christy, who works miracles with spirits (no pun intended) and botanicals, is Mousehall's Chief Distiller. Here she is being quite amused by some of the questions

Listening and learning: (back): Brice Dunlop and Karl Steinhagen; (front): Liz Lawton and Piers Johnston

It's all about the botanicals (13 in all, including rooibos) and here they are. ODs (including Waine Lawton in the background) failed dismally in trying to identify them individually, defending their lack of knowledge based on the theory that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts (which it is in the case of gin)

First, neat gin. Then, if you must, add tonic (Folkington's is the preferred choice of Team Jordan) and then if you really must, fruit (above). Not lemon (counterintuitively, as it messes with the gin); perhaps lime, but better still a slice of grapefruit