From Hand-Sorted Fruit to Transcendental Flavours: A Day at Capreolus Distillery with Barney Wilczak
What started out as a few messages between us and Barney Wilczak, founder at Capreolus Distillery in the Cotswolds about his really rather excellent English Ratafia – a collaboration with Langham winery, swiftly turned into a full-blown invitation to visit him and learn more about the wonderful eaux-de-vie he creates.
We all bundled into the cars, (many a bleary eye amongst the team given the early start!) and made our way to Cirencester. A bacon sarnie later and we were ready to learn about all things distillation. Luckily the sun decided to make an appearance and we were welcomed warmly in the garden with pots of tea and coffee, and met probably the most important figure of the day; Pip, a very keen Bedlington Terrier.
What Barney is doing is entirely unique. A former conservation photographer-turned-distiller, Barney is obsessed (and rightly so!) with distilling the purest flavours from the ingredients he uses, be it raspberry, cherry or 1000 different varieties of apple – everything sourced within 35 miles of the distillery. Every single piece of fruit is hand-sorted, then undergoes a long fermentation with wild yeasts before distillation. It takes a ludicrous amount of fruit to make a 375ml bottle of raspberry eau de vie for example. 33.5kg of raspberries per litre to be precise. As Barney walks us through the distillery, or rather, his house, it becomes readily apparent that there is a relentless pursuit of perfection. Some of the conservation still carries through to this new line of work too, he says, as they are replanting more almost extinct varieties of pear.
We head into the cellar, and Barney opens up some large steel drums filled with various eaux-de-vie. He calls on the team to dip their fingers in. Bemused looks fill the room. We all try the raspberry first, and there are collective murmurs of wonderment. It is the most astoundingly unequivocal expression of raspberry you will ever taste, flavours ever unfurling and it’s still on the tongue 2 minutes later. You could argue that it’s more raspberry than an actual raspberry.
Barney Wilczak, Pure raspberry straight from the barrel.
Image Credit: Lynrace 2026
A tasting awaits us in the main kitchen. Barney presents us with a special lineup of his creations: Apple, Quince, Damson, Cherry, Raspberry and Blackcurrant. As expected they are all transcendental. The team picked different favourites, but I personally think the Blackcurrant was exceptional. I don’t think I’ve had a flavour experience like that before.
You’d be incorrect to think he just works with fruit, he also makes 2 gins – again a combination of botanicals at their peak. The vast majority of gins use up to 10 botanicals, but Barney settled with 37. It’s a brilliant gin, and the flavours surprisingly don’t get muddled up. His other gin uses the same liquid, but matured in mulberry casks. The botanicals are still the star of the show but also manage to intertwine with another flavour courtesy of the cask finish: streaky bacon. It works and what’s more, it’s absolutely delicious.
A 3 hour visit went like a split second, and we all left with a fervent appreciation for Capreolus and their mission. People like Barney are an exceedingly rare breed – the unwavering dedication to show Mother Nature at its peak.
Eaux-de-vie flight.
Image Credit: Lynrace 2026