OK, let's get this out of the way first - this is an excellent product. I was delighted when I discovered Whittaker's gin. I bought some for my wife - it's wonderfully smooth. I took my wife up in the Triumph Herald and we took some photos and bought some more. When you take a bottle back for a refill you get a £5 discount - I've done this, too. I was getting excited about their whisky plans. In Spring we were going up as a family in my son's '66 Mustang and doing a distillery tour. We were enthusiastic customers.
BUT
as I am sure you know, I hate all forms of animal abuse and am active in this field. In one of the forums of which I was a part I noticed a post naming Whittaker's gin as people who proactively support fox hunting and who used to go hunting. An extract from the post read <<Now, when you mention companies – Whittaker Gin from Dacre Banks – they support hunts. They used to go to them>> and supported this by claiming << ‘it’s the country way, it’s tradition’ >> to excuse it.
I wrote to them to ask about it - I made it clear who I was and referred back to our visit with the Herald so they could put a face to the message. I didn't even get the courtesy of a reply. A quick check on the owners' FaceBook pages, however, revealed photos of them hunting and a photo of a fox with a lamb that had been debunked as staged ages ago, so there appears to be no doubt as to where the sympathies lie.
I'm not going to do a fake review and say the product is rubbish. I don't do that. I don't need to lie and do fake reviews. The product itself really is excellent and supremely smooth. If you are comfortable with animal abuse then you will of course be happy to buy from here but I personally simply cannot recommend or patronise a business or organisation when I know that they are part of the kill for fun community, and for that reason they can now count me as an ex-customer, a former customer. The empty bottle has gone in the re-cycling and we will not be going there again.
May 11th 2023 UPDATE
If you remember, when I found out about the hunting links I contacted Whittaker's Gin to get their side of things and didn't get a reply. I waited three weeks before I posted my blog. Within 90 minutes of the blog being advertised on FaceBook I got a response: << Whittaker’s Distillery does not support Fox Hunting or any other illegal activity. >>
That was it - a sort of stock response. I responded immediately: <<Hi. Thanks for finally getting back to me.
What is your explicit position on blood sports? I accept the photo of you with the hunt is very old and many people have realised the horror of what goes on and have turned their back on it. Please understand this was not a judgement based solely on one old photo. I did the search to try and cast some light on the post in the forum, seeing as I hadn’t heard back from you. I do understand that views and positions change over time. Please can you clarify your position here? The staged photo of the fox with the lamb is a recent photo/post that circulates on ‘pro’ forums and pages on FaceBook so would rather suggest a ‘pro’ stance.
I would also be grateful to know your position on shooting – as it is a blood sport (although sadly still legal). For example, are members of the distillery family adherents of shooting?
As for where I got the information – as I explained, it was in an on-line forum, and I was gutted. I love the product hence my messaging you for clarification
Regards
Paul >>
As you can see, I tried to enter into a dialogue to ascertain the position.
This was the reply:
<<I have been on your Facebook page and seen what you have written, so you obviously have made already made up your mind so this as far as we’re concerned, this conversation is now closed. >>
I think it was quite clear from my messages that I had not 'made up my mind' and was giving them the opportunity to clarify and give their position. I responded:
<< Tbh - I contacted you first. I didn’t just accept it. When I didn’t hear back I went to look to check.
If I am wrong and you are actually opposed to these activities now and can state that I would be delighted and perfectly happy to post an update. >>
Again, I gave them the opportunity to respond and offered to post an update.
That was on March 14th. I have waited since then to give them ample opportunity but the silence has been deafening.
I leave you to draw your own conclusions.