Whatever you’re looking for, Rarebits Collection has the answer. From cosy self-catering cottages to luxury spa hotels, petite pubs with rooms to sprawling country house hotels. We caught up with Siân and Andrew from The Gower Gin Company, whose gin was named 'Best in Wales 2019' in The Gin Guide Awards, to hear their insights and interesting facts about the Welsh gin industry: Visitor tours take around an hour and are available for groups of up to thirty.Each one starts with an introduction of the unique history of the distillery. Guests will also get to taste and smell the ingredients that go into the award-winning spirits.

It’s from this natural larder that head chef Hywel Griffith sources most of his ingredients for the Beach House – a former coal shed-turned-Michelin-star restaurant perched on the sands of Oxwich Bay on the idyllic Gower peninsula. The ethos here is seasonal and local, meaning you can sit next to the expansive windows looking out to sea, dining on fish – perhaps bass or sewin (sea trout) – that was caught mere metres from you that morning. You can choose between three and eight seasonal courses, which, come autumn and winter, means favourites such as the famous Gower salt marsh lamb that’s reared just down the road. Wales is home to a wide variety of fine whiskies and gins. If you’re partial to the odd spirit and want to learn more about your favourite tipple or just sample some new flavours, keep reading as we reveal the distilleries in Wales that you need to visit. Silver Circle Distillery , Catbrook, Monmouthshire Cygnet Gin has a long Swansea history, with the recipe partly inspired by an attempt at a cure for cholera in the 19 th century. Even the titular cygnet is inspired by the Swan – a local mascot for over 800 years.In the heart of the Wye Valley sits the Silver Circle Distillery. Distillery tours are offered for up to thirty guests at a time. Everything from distilling to bottling, is done by hand. This distillery uses locally foraged botanicals, and visitors will learn more about them alongside the gin-making process. While crafting, you get to drink one of their gins, while their distiller explains the process. After you finish, they make you a G&T with your own gin and serve you a delicious platter of food – what more could you want? As of May 17th, Aber Falls Distillery has launched its first 100% Welsh single malt whiskey, making it the first North Wales commercial whiskey released in 100 years. Distillery tours are now being offered too. They run between 10am and 4pm, 7 days a week and last for about an hour. There’s also a new visitor centre and bistro to explore. Cardiff Distillery Gin School, Cardiff Aber Falls Distillery opened its doors in 2017 and has since won multiple awards for its gins and liqueurs. They prioritise Welsh ingenuity in the crafting process, but that’s not all. Along with other Welsh distilleries, they are working to put Welsh whiskey firmly on the map with a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) award. This tour takes around two and half hours in total and a maximum of six can take part. Participants will also receive a 20% discount on products in the Cygnet range. Aber Falls Distillery Visitor Centre

This rapid development includes has included both new distilleries and new brands using existing distilleries to produce their local brands. Some of the biggest growth area has been in hyper-localised gins for pubs, restaurants, events, big estates and fledgling gin companies wanting to test their ideas before investing. The companies making these hyper-localised gins for a range of aspiring clients include In the Welsh Wind, Gower Gin, Cygnet Gin and Da Mhile. The ancient village of Llanddarog is home to the family-run Coles Distillery. But don’t be fooled by its humble beginnings – this distillery is actually the biggest craft distillery in Wales. Many of the Welsh tropes are used in the products that have emerged over recent months such as St David’s/Dewi Sant, love-spoon, Bara Brith, Welsh cake etc, and this helps promote Wales and the Welsh culture both nationally and internationally. Foraging tours, such as those run by Gourmet Gatherings, offer an opportunity to learn about local flora while gathering tasty ingredients. Photograph: Tom Damsell Groups of up to twenty can take a one-hour tour of the distillery, seven days a week. The distillery also offers a whiskey tasting class for real whiskey aficionados. This takes around two and a half hours and involves a guided tour of the still and shop floor, as well as a chance to taste some Penderyn Single Malt Whiskies.One of the big areas of contention at the moment is that some producers are saying their products are 'Made in Wales' when they aren't. Many producers are pushing for clarity in this area and engagement from the Welsh Government to help establish a way of denoting this so that consumers can make an informed choice. They’re also working to protect the local environment, adopting the sustainable practise of sending waste products on to local farms, for use as fertiliser or feed. There is actually no ‘j’ in Welsh and so ‘gin’ was used initially but ‘jin’ has now become more popular on bottles. Some companies use London dry gin in Welsh i.e. 'jin sych Llundain' but others prefer to use jin sych Cymreig (Welsh dry gin). Whatever the variations, many producers feel it is important to use the Welsh language in their labelling and branding from a simple name to fully bilingual bottles.

Penderyn Distillery also offers a selection of appointment-only evening and corporate distillery tours, available for groups of between 10-20 people. Cygnet Gin , Swansea Lidl doesn't offer an online deliveries so you'll need to head to your nearest store if you want to get your hands on them.Alternatively, head to the wild Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) with Adele Nozedar of Brecon Beacons Foraging to learn all about sustainable sustenance in the mountains, moors and waterways of mid and east Wales, collecting everything from wild garlic to mushrooms. Look out for Nozedar’s gin botanicals experience, where you collect ingredients to flavour spirits. Over the past 3 years the Welsh Gin Industry has exploded growing from around 5 distilleries in 2017 to 30+ in 2020; more than quintupling on 3 years.