For Father’s Day I bought my dad tickets for a tour of Conker Distillery based in the Bournemouth suburb of Southbourne. Luckily, he chose to take me as his plus one for the distillery’s regular weekend afternoon tour. Here, you get to learn all about the manufacture of gin with plenty of gin tasting along the way.
How to get to Conker Distillery
The distillery is in a small warehouse in a residential street in Southbourne. From Bournemouth, Southbourne is 3 miles to the east along the A35. From Southbourne Road, turn left into Stourvale Road and continue until you see the flag on the right had side. By bus, take the 1b to Stourfield School. From here, the distillery is just a 4 minute walk along Cranleigh Road.
Parking
There’s a lot of gin involved, so I don’t recommend driving, but there is free roadside parking in the road outside for any designated drivers.
Times and Dates
The tour takes place on Fridays and Saturdays from 2 pm until 4 pm. It’s very popular, so booking in advance is essential.
Price
Tickets cost £30 per person.
Tour
The tour isn’t a physical tour, in that you spend the entire time sitting at a table. It started with a welcome drink, while the distillery’s founder, Rupert, told us all about how he quit his day job to set up a gin distillery. And how, after many experiments with a wide range of botanicals, he finally settled on his gin recipe at the 38th attempt. Basically, it has the same ingredients as London Dry gin (i.e. Juniper Berries, Coriander Seeds, Angelica Root, Citrus Peels and Orris Root). Plus some local additions of gorse flowers, samphire and elderberries. Examples of each of the botanicals incorporated into the gin were handed round for us to taste/smell.
Once the recipe was decided upon, Conker was born and Rupert went from distilling in a small pan in his kitchen to the premises the company now occupies.
Gin
The distillery produces six gins, five of which we were given to sample; Dorset Dry Gin, Navy Strength Gin, Port Barrel Gin (rested in port barrels for 8 weeks or three years to develop a porty, oaky flavour), Raspberry Gin and Black Cherry Gin. Plus the alcohol free Bowser.
Coffee Liqueur
I’m not a coffee lover, so gave this part of the tour a swerve, but they also produce a Coffee Liqueur and a Decaffeinated Coffee Liqueur. Samples of both of these were also forthcoming. I offered my dad my coffee liqueurs, but by this time, he was a tad squiffy! The tour rounded off with a demonstration of how to use the coffee liqueur to make an Espresso Martini.
Tap Room
On Friday and Saturday evenings, the distillery Tap Room is open to public from 4 pm until 10 pm. So, if you have been on the tour and are still standing after the drinks you’ve already downed, you can stay on. Alternatively, come back another weekend and pick up where you left off. At the tap room, you can opt for a G&T tasting flight or maybe a cocktail (or two).
There is also a food truck serving tasty snacks, from boozy sandwiches to burgers and pizza. Further details about forthcoming tap room events can be found here.
Cocktail Masterclass
A recent addition is a fortnightly Cocktail Masterclass, where you can brush up on your mixology. The masterclass costs £60 and you get to make and drink four cocktail creations.
We had a thoroughly enjoyable and educational afternoon. We headed home after the tour, but I shall certainly be going back again for some cocktail time…
I hope you found this information useful. For more inspiration on things to do in and around Bournemouth, check out my 101 Things to do in Bournemouth here.
- Updated: April 2025
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