Yorkshire distillery donates percentage of gin sales to environmental organisation

A Yorkshire-based gin and whisky distillery has made its first donation through its partnership with a local environmental charity.

After pledging to donate 2.5% of its annual gin sales to an environmental non-profit organisation, Cooper King Distillery, Yorkshire’s self-built gin and whisky distillery, is making its first quarterly contribution to Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT).

As a member of international environmental initiative 1% for the Planet, Cooper King Distillery commits to supporting approved environmental non-profit partners by donating at least1% of gin sales to a chosen project. The Distillery has opted to far exceed this, donating 2.5% of gin sales instead.

Through the partnership with YDMT, every bottle of gin sold will support the planting of native broadleaf woodlands across the Yorkshire Dales, helping to create vibrant wildlife habitats, reduce flooding and creating beautiful places that promote health and wellbeing.

Commenting on their first donation, Abbie Neilson, co-founder of Cooper King Distillery said:

“As a family run distillery that truly champions all things Yorkshire, we are delighted to work with a charity so dedicated to preserving our beautiful natural landscapes and at the same time reduce our carbon footprint. The first three months of sales show that we are on track to achieve our target of planting approximately 400 trees this year!”

Established in 2016 by co-founders Chris Jaume, a chartered architect and Dr Abbie Neilson, a former scientist, Cooper King Distillery is located in Sutton-on-the-Forest, North Yorkshire.

Since launching its inaugural gin in May, Cooper King Distillery has sold 1239 bottles, which equates to a donation of £1239 to the charity. This donation will see 120 trees planted, with further contributions to be donated every quarter.

Located in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, the first 120 trees will be planted in a new woodland in Nidderdale. The distillery hopes to plant 400 trees in the area by the end of the year if gin sales continue to excel as they have been since the launch.

YDMT is a small charity doing big things to support the people, landscape and wildlife of the Yorkshire Dales.

Michael Delvin, development manager at YDMT, commented:

“In the face of climate change and destruction of natural habitats, it is essential that we have environmentally conscious businesses like Cooper King Distillery in the world, whose donations will not only contribute to the planet’s future but also help improve the overall landscape in the Dales. This support will play an important part in our Together for Trees appeal through which we aim to plant 100,000 trees over the next two years, creating beautiful woodlands that everyone can enjoy.


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About Cooper King Distillery

Located in the heart of Yorkshire, Cooper King Distillery is a self-built, family-owned gin and whisky distillery built on the site of a stable. Formed in 2016, by Dr Abbie Neilson, a former scientist and Chris Jaume, a chartered architect, Cooper King Distillery is independent, self-built and powered by 100% green energy. With a desire to leave the rat race, co-founders Chris and Abbie travelled across the globe, in search of sun, sand and adventure. Whilst visiting Australia the pair became fascinated by Tasmania’s eight operational whisky distilleries and the hand-crafted premium whisky industry, which was just starting to take off in this part of the world. With a mission to bring their discoveries back to Britain, Chris and Abbie set up a truly independent craft distillery back home in Sutton-on-the-Forest in North Yorkshire. Taught by Bill Lark, the godfather of Tasmanian whisky, and armed with a wealth of knowledge gathered from across Tasmania’s now internationally acclaimed New World whisky distilleries and beyond, Cooper King Distillery produces authentic premium spirits, using the highest quality ingredients that England has to offer. The distillery’s inaugural product, Cooper King Dry Gin was released in May 2018. Hand distilled using honey from the distillery’s beehives, lemongrass and a touch of locally-grown lavender, the gin has incredible savoury lemongrass flavours, a silky mouthfeel and delicate floral notes. Produced in micro-batches, Cooper King is the first distillery in Yorkshire to combine innovative cold vacuum distillation with traditional hot copper-pot distillation, in a process that’s tailored to suit each individual botanical, ensuring they extract the freshest, fullest flavours. The initial reviews of Cooper King Dry Gin are extremely positive, with The Gin Fayre describing it as a ‘game changer’. The company is the first distillery in Europe to join international environment initiative, 1% for the Planet, which sees 1% of sales of Cooper King Dry Gin contributed towards environmental non-profits. Cooper King Distillery will plant one square metre of native woodland for every bottle sold through a partnership with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust. Its initial batch of premium single malt whisky, made using Yorkshire barley, is scheduled to go into production in summer 2018, with a projected release date of 2023. Inspired by Chris’s great-great-grandfather, Charles Cooper King, the name Cooper King has rich historical ties to England and Yorkshire. Born in 1843, Charles, who was Lieutenant Colonel of the Royal Marine Artillery, traced the Cooper King family history back to 1030, where he identified the Pigot family of Yorkshire, whose shield can still be seen today throughout Ripon Cathedral. The Cooper King Distillery Founders’ Club is offering craft spirit lovers a unique opportunity to become part of the Cooper King family and help make English distilling history. Membership tiers start from £30, which is ideal for a gift, through to more established memberships which include a name engraving on the Founders’ Plaque in the distillery. Memberships also offer first access to rare and collectable whisky in the form of new, special, and small-batch releases, individually-numbered single cask releases from their early casks, plus the chance to own Cooper King Distillery’s Inaugural Release bottle #1. To find out more about Cooper King Distillery, visit http://www.cooperkingdistillery.co.uk/