Whether you have enjoyed a Caspyn gin and tonic, poured yourself a glass of Dr Squid Gin, sipped on Hell’s Stone Whisky by the fire in your favourite pub, or tried King of Prussia Spiced Rum and fancied yourself a 19th century Paris artist while drinking Morveren Absinthe, you are in effect a loyal customer of Penzance distillery Pocketful of Stones.
Pocketful of Stones came about when Mancunian Mike Cunliffe and South African Shaun Bebington met more than 20 years ago while working in or running pubs in London.
"We love the sense of community that pubs have," Mike said. "It was a time when it was just three gins and whiskies on offer behind the bar and variety was not there.
"We longed for something better. Both of us have travelled a lot. I lived in Australia for three years. In terms of the craft beer revolution, innovation and variety, the UK was 10 years behind Australia and the US.
"We came back to the UK. Our industry was so far behind but change was starting to happen. I love this industry. We wanted to add to it and create something that could be the best in terms of what's inside the bottle and how it looks on the outside. That's how we decided to create our own distillery."
Both moved to Cornwall and after searching for the best premises and battling red-tape, Pocketful of Stones distillery was born in an industrial estate at Long Rock just outside Penzance.
Mike explained how the name is a reference to Virginia Woolf, who took her own life by drowning when she filled her overcoat pockets with rocks and walked into the River Ouse behind her house in 1941, having left a suicide letter to that effect.
"When we lived and worked in London there was a Blue Plaque on the building four doors down from us where Virginia Woolf had lived and when we came to Cornwall there were so many connections to her.
"But it's also how trying to create something felt like – battling the administration, red tape and trying to find the funding for it. It very much felt like we were going around with pockets full of stones."
Woolf lived in Talland House, which still stands in St Ives, during her childhood summers and could see Godrevy Lighthouse from there. It is this lighthouse that is said to have inspired Woolf’s 1927 masterpiece To the Lighthouse.
Ten years on, the eponymous distillery has grown to make Hell's Stone whisky, Caspyn gin and the famous Dr Squid Gin sold in a metal tin, which many others have copied, King of Prussia Spiced Rum and Morveren Absinthe.
It creates 23 handcrafted products across eight spirit categories. Each bottle is inspired by Cornish folklore and the rugged natural landscape surrounding the distillery in west Cornwall.
Pocketful of Stones is now exporting its spirits to countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Hungary.
Pocketful of Stones has sold more than 500,000 bottles of Cornwall made spirits, welcomed 20,000 visitors to its tasting sessions, is exporting to western Europe and now employs 30 staff.
The business created a classy bar in the heart of Penzance in 2022 when it acquired what had been a charity shop that had closed down on Causewayhead and added vibrancy and cool to a drab street.
Mike said: "People know us maybe trying our gin or whisky in their local pub. They want to see where it's made and talk to the people who make it.
"You don't get emotionally attached to a product unless you've visited where it's made for yourself. When you do, you become a customer for life. That's what we have been trying to do with our bar and our distillery at Long Rock. It's all about experience.
"We even had a customer from Lancashire who planned his holidays to Cornwall around visiting us."
He added: "Five years ago, Causewayhead was struggling. We took on a site that was a charity shop that had closed. We invested in it and made it look cool. I think in the last four years Causewayhead has undergone a transformation.
"There's a bakery, florist, independent clothes and coffee shops. We love that Penzance is fiercely independent to the core. There is so much pride in the town."
Penzance Distillery Named After Virginia Woolf’s Suicide