toad distillery tour oxford

Your basket is empty

Your basket.

 Whisky 3 for 2

The Dissertation

Farming a New Approach to Spirits

Experience our Spirits

Oxford rye whisky - 2017 harvest, oxford rye whisky - 2018 harvest, oxford rye whisky - the dissertation, oxford rye whisky - crafty little rye, oxford rye dry gin, oxford botanic garden - physic gin, christmas pudding rye, oxford rye vodka, ashmolean dry gin.

OUR FARMING

Responsible farming will always be the first stage in our distilling; taking our time, regenerating the land (using absolutely no pesticides) and supporting biodiversity with every bottle. After all, if 98% of your gin comes from grain, shouldn’t nature farm it?

COCKTAIL INSPIRATION STRAIGHT FROM OUR BAR

You’ve bought the delicious spirits. Now it’s time to make some delicious serves. Get inspired by our bar team and their fantastic creations, from a dream Negroni to a classic Oxford Rye G&T.

Place of registration: England and Wales Registered office of Still On The Hill Ltd is c/o Wellers, 8 King Edward Street, Oxford, OX1 4HL, UK. Company Registration no: 9804220 | VAT Registered: GB224178518

© Still On The Hill Ltd 2024

• Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
• Opens in a new window.

PLEASE DON’T MIND US GETTING PERSONAL BUT WE HAVE TO ASK IF YOU ARE OF LEGAL DRINKING AGE IN YOUR COUNTRY?

ARE YOU OF LEGAL DRINKING AGE IN YOUR COUNTRY?

IN THE UK, YOU HAVE TO BE 18 OR OVER TO VIEW OUR SITE.

© Still On The Hill Ltd 2023

The Oxford Artisan Distillery (TOAD)

About The Oxford Artisan Distillery (TOAD)

The Oxford Artisan Distillery (TOAD) is a craft distillery located in Oxford’s South Park. They are the only distillery in the world that uses ancient populations of heritage rye, wheat and barley, all sustainably grown exclusively on organic farms within a 50-mile radius of its distillery resulting in spirits with rare and distinctive subtleties. To create their own distinctive field-to-bottle spirits, they have also had to design and build their own fit-for-purpose stills with the help of artisans and engineers from South Devon Railway Engineering.

Distillery Tours

The distillery welcomes visitors for a behind-the-scenes experience, to discover the principles behind their approach to distilling, and to follow the production processes which makes their craft spirits special. Visitors get the opportunity to really see what goes into producing the spirits. Everything is very visible, making it a perfect environment to truly understand grain-to-glass craft distilling.

Getting there

Situated in Oxford’s South Park, the distillery is a pleasant 30-minute walk from Oxford city centre. But great views of the city does come with a price, so be prepared for some uphill walking.

By Taxi If you are arriving by train to Oxford, a taxi will take you about 10 minutes depending on traffic conditions.

By Bus Take any of the 4 buses (4, 4A, 4B, 4C) towards Wood Farm and get off at the Warneford Hospital stop. From there, TOAD is just a short 300 metres walk away. Alternatively, any bus to Oxford Brooke’s University will serve you well. The distillery is a five-minute walk away from the campus.

By Car There is a small number of parking spaces available. If you are coming from out of town, we recommend using the Thornhill Park & Ride. Get off the Oxford Brooke’s University stop.

Read from The Oxford Artisan Distillery (TOAD)

The Oxford Artisan Distillery Tour

More from the oxford magazine.

Cotswolds Distillery

Chalgrove Artisan Distillery

The Sky Wave Distilling Company

Tap Social Movement

Read about the latest events and London life by real Londoners.

TOAD: The Oxford Artisan Distillery Tour Review.

Address: Old Depot, South Park, Cheney Lane, Oxford OX3 7QJ Phone: 01865 767918 Email: [email protected]

The distillery is open to purchase spirits 11.00-15.00 Monday to Friday. 11.00 – 17.00 on Saturdays. 14.00 – 16.30 on Sundays. Parking is available at the distillery.

Written by Tegan LeBon

First photo by Tegan LeBon, other photos provided by TOAD And Katie Spicer Photography

You May Also Like

Bonedaddies Ramen Bar – Serving up Oodles of warm Noodles

#Lush Labs Popup

James Acaster Soho Theatre

Let's keep in touch...

Sign up below to get the latest news, offers and events from Gin Foundry. Receive 10% off on Gin Kiosk when you sign up too!

Thank you for subscribing.

Check your inbox and confirm the link to complete the process.

Welcome to the home of Gin

Are you of a legal drinking age in your country of residence?

• Distillery Map
• Gin Foundry
• Junipalooza
• Ginfographic
• Kiosk (Shop)

The Oxford Artisan Distillery - TOAD

Address: The Oxford Artisan Distillery, South Park, Cheney Lane, Oxford, OX3 7QJ

Availability : Monday - Saturday: 11.00am (Booking ahead is recommended).

Duration of Tour: 45 minutes

Book HERE .

Read the Gin  REVIEW .

For Your Money:

There are a couple of tours on offer at The Oxford Artisanal Distillery, but most will go for the “standard” tour. The Standard Tour is a march around the beautiful distillery, where you’ll be shown how the TOAD team make their vodka, gin, absinthe and whisky from scratch. It’s amazing to see the process move from grain to bottle and you’re all but guaranteed to come away with as many questions as answers.

The Founder’s Tour costs £50 and lasts a further 45 minutes. As the name suggests, it’s hosted by one of the three founders this tour gives a unique insight into their journey from conception all the way to bottle. As a team they are big characters too, so it’s incredibly personable as a visit and they spend time talking about how they source the ingredients and the work that goes into making the vodka, gin, absinthe and rye whiskey. After this in-depth tour, they also host an extended tasting session, taking you through all the different spirits and finishing with a large gin and tonic.

A few thoughts from Gin Foundry:

The stills are completely bonkers and unique looking and as a tour, this is one of the more memorable ones you’ll find in the UK.

Anywhere that goes grain to glass has a lot to talk about and TOAD certainly doesn’t disappoint in terms of content, passion. If you have a broad interest go for the Standard tour, it’s good, but if you do know a little more about booze already and really want to get under the skin of this place - the Founders tour delivers the difference in price.

Where to buy?

Copyright © Gin Foundry

• Oxfordshire museums
• Country houses and gardens
• University of Oxford
• Family days out
• Entertainment
• Walks in Oxfordshire
• Oxford and Oxfordshire
• Oxford university colleges to visit
• Rainy day ideas
• Afternoon tea
• Best restaurants
• Brewery and distillery tours
• Hospitality guide
• A weekend in Oxford
• Great outdoors
• The Cotswolds
• South Oxfordshire
• The Ridgeway Trail
• Harry Potter
• Inspector Morse
• Downton Abbey
• Midsomer Murders
• Arts and culture
• England's historic cities
• Fresh Air and freedom
• Time together
• Escape the everyday in Oxfordshire
• Only in Oxfordshire
• What's on in Oxfordshire
• Submit an event
• Special offers
• Oxfordshire hotels
• B&Bs and guesthouses
• Chipping Norton
• Henley-on-Thames
• Wallingford
• Travelling to Oxford and around Oxfordshire
• Attraction tickets
• Accessible Oxford guide
• Oxford Official Walking Tours
• Cotswold tours
• Car, bus and coach tours
• Walking, library and museum tours
• Book experiences
• Venue finding service
• Partnership

Oxfordshire Brewery and Distillery Tours

Discover oxfordshire breweries and distilleries.

Discover how your favourite pint or spirit is made in Oxfordshire by visiting the best breweries and distilleries across the county. Learn the history and process behind producing the county’s finest beverages and walk out being an expert in this field! All tours give the visitor a unique experience and are great for a fun day out, celebratory outing or even an eventful team-building activity.

Brewery Tours

Located in Hook Norton, the Hook Norton Brewery is one of only 32 family owned breweries and the finest example of a Victorian Tower Brewery in the country. Join one of their Brewery Tours to see the original steam engine, learn about their history and how they make a range of delicious beers. The tour ends with a tutored beer tasting and also welcomes visitors to meet their Shire Horses, visit their museum and relax in the visitor centre or cafe.

Distillery Tours

The Oxford Artisan Distillery is Oxford’s first distillery and boasts a fascinating story of how they cultivate, craft, create and curate the very finest spirits using sustainably grown populations of ancient heritage grain. Join one of TOAD’s unique tours to discover the principals and production processes that make their delicious spirits. Finish the tour with a tasting of these world-class spirits made right in the heart of Oxford!

The Sky Wave Distillery Co. is a boutique distillery and the Home of the World’s Best Contemporary Gin 2020. Hear the stories and drink award-winning gin at the only distillery based on a former WW2 RAF base, now the beautiful Bicester Heritage, home of historic motoring. During the 75-minute event, your hosts will entertain and amaze you with the Sky Wave story, introduce you to their stills on which the seven award-winning gins are created and lead you through a tutored gin tasting.

The Henley Distillery uses innovative recipe development to create premium, small batch spirits using traditional, hand-crafted, artisan methods. Housed in an 18th century barn, tours and tastings are available as well as a fully immersive gin experience. Each guest will have the opportunity to sample 3 different gins produced by Master Distiller Jacob.

Search for...

Hook Norton Brewery

The Oxford Artisan Distillery

The Henley Distillery

The Sky Wave Distilling Co.

© Experience Oxfordshire 2024. All rights reserved. Website design by Technique Web .

Privacy Overview

Bitten Oxford Food & Restaurant Reviews

Oxford food guide, meta data and taxonomies filter, toad – the oxford artisan distillery.

19th October 2017 by Becca Chaplin 26 Comments Blog

I first got to try TOAD at a Pint Shop  gin tasting, which is a fantastic event and if you like gin in any way, do go to one! Tom Nicholson, CEO and an Oxford boy, was there to talk us through the flavours and how TOAD came about. It’s a story worth going to the distillery itself to hear – the way the team discovered the ancient grains used to produce the base spirit is fascinating. Then the development of the distillery itself is one of those chance chats to someone who knows someone you should talk to, so on and so forth until you end up with a team of people who may otherwise never have met.

Those people include Cory Mason, an American infamous for his New York speakeasy and bootleg absinthe who is now the Master Distiller at TOAD, John Letts, the environmental archaeologist who discovered and started growing the ancient grains and Paul Pridham, designer and builder of the stunning copper stills used to distil TOAD’s spirits. Paul is a steam boiler specialist and was responsible for the restoration of the Flying Scotsman’s boiler. Building Nautilus and Nemo, the two stills, was an entirely new challenge that he relished.

Locating the new distillery in a 18th-century threshing barn has a poetic symmetry to it, by allowing a neglected building to come back to life for a career not too far removed from its original use. You can visit the distillery Monday to Saturday at 11am and 1pm, Sundays 2pm and 4pm on a 45-minute tour that costs £20 per person or for something really special do the Founders Tour on a Saturday at 3pm where you’ll get the tour and a very good tasting session for £50. Just remember to take the bus or book a taxi! Booking details are on the TOAD website.

Alternatively, you can win tickets from us…..

Simply tell us in the comments section below who you would take and why you want to go. Best two answers win a pair of tour tickets each.

The competition closes in one week, at midnight on 26th October, with prize winners notified in the comments section. Good luck!

**COMPETITION WINNERS**

We had some brilliant comments in response to the giveaway, but our favourites who will be each winning two tickets to tour TOAD were:

Adil – “I’d take my wife, it would be a get out of jail for HER not getting me an anniversary present!!”

Michelle – “Would love to go with my hubby! Basically so we can escape from our two adorable monsters for a while and have some us time!! oh and try some amazing gin!”

Both very familiar situations and hopefully the tickets will help! Congratulations both 😀

19th October 2017 at 1:33 pm

I’d take my husband he loves to see the engineering side of distilleries and I just love to drink it

19th October 2017 at 1:55 pm

I’d take my wife, it would be a get out of jail for HER not getting me an anniversary present!!

1st November 2017 at 10:17 am

Congratulations Adil, we have a pair of tickets for you and hope it gets her out of jail! 😀 Please email Jacqui at [email protected] so we can organise your tickets.

19th October 2017 at 2:49 pm

I’d take my sister as she loves gin

19th October 2017 at 3:05 pm

I would take my best friend.. because she brings me joy.. so I think it’s only fair I return the favour.. gin = Joy 😉

19th October 2017 at 4:52 pm

I’d wanted to get tour tickets for two friends who got married in August, but TOAD didn’t have them printed in time. I had to buy them the gin instead.

19th October 2017 at 5:33 pm

If I could, I’d take Vesper Lynd from Casino Royale, just so I could be like James Bond and create the cocktail named for her. But instead, I’ll take my wife and treat her to a cocktail named for her. She’s my Vesper!

19th October 2017 at 6:30 pm

I’d take my boyfriend Matt as we’re both drinking nerds and would love some more facts… and to drink the Gin

19th October 2017 at 6:38 pm

Two of my friends are gin fiends. I’d give them the tickets to go have a good time 🙂

19th October 2017 at 8:01 pm

Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, Toad seems the best! I’d take the person I know who most resembles Humphrey Bogart.

19th October 2017 at 8:16 pm

Having recently moved to Oxford and being a gin-lover, I’d take my new fellow Oxford denizen, gin-loving friend to bond over a tour, facts and a tiny tipple or 2…

19th October 2017 at 9:18 pm

I’d take my partner Gareth as a reward for studying for his final professional architecture qualification this year after ten years of hard graft! We’d both toast to the future with a dry gin martini with a twist 😉 and marvel at the copper stills and scent of delicious aromatics!

19th October 2017 at 9:56 pm

My fiancee is a gin fiend. We’ve been to distilleries up and down the country, but as Oxford locals, we’d love to check out this one in our backyard!

19th October 2017 at 10:54 pm

I’d take a T-totaller so I could have their drinks as well as mine. I have a very special relationship with gin, we look after each other. Ah, don’t know any t-totallers! Problem!!

20th October 2017 at 6:35 am

I’d take my partner and our two friends. They’ve just got engaged and are taking a year out to travel the world next year, so I need to make the most of them before they leave!

20th October 2017 at 10:48 am

I’d like to take my Girlfriend Tracey as her new year resolution for 2017 was to enjoy gin. I know she will love your product and can then tick another artisan gin off her list.

20th October 2017 at 11:08 am

I’d give the tickets to my best friend and her husband. They both love Gin, and need some more after drinking the big bottle I got her for her birthday in record time!

20th October 2017 at 1:06 pm

I would take my fiance. We have both worked in hospitality in Oxford for a long time – so it’s great to see an amazing product that is truly homegrown, have such a great impact on the local industry. Would LOVE to see its birthplace 🙂

20th October 2017 at 1:07 pm

I would have to take my boyfriend who is a beer lover and bring him over to the gin side!

20th October 2017 at 1:25 pm

I’d beg you for four tickets so Mr Toad could take Mole, Rat and Mr Badger and show them “his” new distillery. Four Oxford legends taking a tour round what will hopefully become Oxford’s next legendary venue!

20th October 2017 at 2:08 pm

I’d like to take my girlfriend. We are both huge fans of TOADs and distilled beverages. We met a green TOAD on a recent holiday and fell in love with it. We have a secret #TOAD gang-sign type thing that we’d be happy to demonstrate whilst drinking gin. Plus I live just down the road so there will be no danger of drink-driving.

20th October 2017 at 4:16 pm

I would bring my partner in (gin) crime Paul Canning. He is responsible for introducing me to the truly amazing world of gin, and now I am hooked!! Love the TOAD story, local inspired SME producer. I would love to get to know you more and hopefully if I am lucky enough to buy a share, continue with you on your amazing gin journey!! xx

20th October 2017 at 5:54 pm

Would love to go with my hubby! Basically so we can escape from our two adorable monsters for a while and have some us time!! oh and try some amazing gin!

1st November 2017 at 10:21 am

Congratulations Michelle, how could we not give you a pair of tickets for that?! I’m afraid there’s no babysitter included, but we hope you enjoy the visit 🙂 Please email Jacqui at [email protected] so we can organise your tickets.

20th October 2017 at 6:58 pm

I will take my two mates Alka and Seltzer. I will need their support afterwards.

21st October 2017 at 4:56 pm

I hate gin, Yes I do If only that was true , I’d take my mate Maggie She will do We could drink the nite away And raise a glass to TOAD along the way

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Local Takeaway, Pub Food & Restaurant Reviews in Oxfordshire

Find the best indian restaurants, the ultimate burgers, the tastiest takeaways, greatest gastro pubs, the finest dining & the perfect sunday roasts in Oxford

Reviews of the best gastro pubs, takeaways and restaurants in oxfordshire.

All original content © 2023 Bitten Oxford We review the best local restaurants, pubs, takeaway food and fine dining in Oxfordshire

Privacy Overview

The Oxford Artisan Distillery Tour

• Spirits tasting
• Entry/Admission - The Oxford Artisan Distillery
• Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
• The Oxford Artisan Distillery, Old Depot, South Park, Cheney Ln, Headington, Oxford OX3 7QJ, UK The distillery is 1.8 miles from the Oxford City Centre, at the top of South Park next to Oxford Brookes University, and easily accessible by bus
• Wheelchair accessible
• Service animals allowed
• Near public transportation
• Transportation is wheelchair accessible
• Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
• Children must be accompanied by an adult - children under 18 are free if accompanied by an adult
• Minimum age for tasting is 18 years (you may be asked to provide ID)
• Not recommended for pregnant travellers
• Most travellers can participate
• This tour/activity will have a maximum of 6 travellers
• For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
• You'll start at The Oxford Artisan Distillery Old Depot, South Park, Cheney Ln, Headington, Oxford OX3 7QJ, UK The distillery is 1.8 miles from the Oxford City Centre, at the top of South Park next to Oxford Brookes University, and easily accessible by bus See address & details
• 1 The Oxford Artisan Distillery Stop: 60 minutes - Admission included • Tour starts in the Threshing Barn with an introduction to The Oxford Artisan Distillery, we cover our journey to launch and what makes us a unique grain-to-glass distillery. We will introduce our exclusive populations of heritage grain. • This is followed by the Distillery where we take you through our grain to bottle process and you get to see our unique stills Nautilus and Nemo. • Finally you finish back in the shop We include a number of tastings throughout the tour. Read more
• You'll return to the starting point

• MrsGandherboys 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Lovely experience Brilliant tasting and tour. Tiny distillery but packed with charisma! Enjoyed listening to the information about the process and tasting the results. So glad we had walked! Read more Written 30 October 2023
• Jess S 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Excellent I went with my mum and two sisters. What a fantastic experience. It was really informative and interesting, we found out many things we didn't know. We also got to sample a variety of their homemade products. Would definitely recommend it. Read more Written 27 October 2023
• oliviaaQ1206RO 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles A distillery I will certainly be visiting again! There are different alcohol tours, so whisky tour next! The gin, whisky and vodka all tasted absolutely amazing! They are all Oxford-grown and made, and the team at the distillery were both incredibly friendly and informative; I learned a lot from my experience there. Plus, there were dogs to play with which was a very nice surprise!! And finally, the venue was so gorgeous! Looking forward to coming back again :) Read more Written 25 October 2023
• MHMOM 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles A fabulous gin and whiskey distillery tour Our family (husband, wife and two daughters in their mid-20s) wanted to tour a gin distillery in either London or Oxfordshire. My initial inclination was to book one of the famous London locales but as it worked out for our schedule, the Oxford Artisan Distillery worked best, and I’m so glad it did. It’s one of the few distillers anywhere to make gin every step of way from planting the grain through adding the botanicals; we learned so much about their sustainable practices and first rate products. If you’re interested in biodiversity and the environment you’ll love this visit. Gin isn’t even their primary product. They produce vodka (2x winner of world’s best vodka) and whiskey as well - whiskey is their primary product but you’ll learn why they also produce gin and vodka when you visit. Our host Sarah was terrific - knowledgeable and engaging. Our visit included a gin and tonic plus tastings of one vodka, two gins and two whiskeys. It’s an easy bus ride + short walk from Oxford City Centre for those of us who haven’t rented a car. Loved the visit! Read more Written 3 May 2023
• GrandTour00008772458 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Whiskey Tour Really enjoyed our whiskey tour. Carmen really knew her stuff and was very enthusiastic. The history of the distillery was very interesting and very different to the more commercial tours in the bigger distilleries. And the whiskey tasted great too! Read more Written 30 April 2023
• E2566QTcaitlins 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Amazing time Tried the best vodka I’ve ever had! Such a nice atmosphere and beautiful grounds. Richard and Carmen were the best hosts and made us feel so comfortable! Read more Written 19 April 2023
• N2656XAalexh 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Excellent Distillery Tour We had an excellent tour. Sarah was a great distillery guide, giving us a thorough history of the distillery whilst making the tour fun and interesting. Would highly recommend. Read more Written 15 April 2023
• GavinDBishop 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Superb Tour and tasting Just did the Whiskey tour with Richard - absolutely fascinating!. Added bonus was a plethora of really delicious, original tasting whiskeys. Read more Written 7 April 2023
• 32maxw 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Great fun and great tasting session A great tour and so informative, learned a lot about the grain side of things as well as some history and distilling. Mitchell pitched it at a great level and did great on the tour. Would recommend to anyone! Read more Written 1 April 2023
• deniskie 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Sat aft fun! Go! Highly recommended! Our tour guide was a great host, v funny and superb storyteller (my memory is somewhat hazy for whatever reason but I believe his name was Mike). We learnt a lot about their processes as well as history from the area. Read more Written 15 March 2023
• Sarah F 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Fantastic tour and information Great tour. We have done quite a few gin distillery tours over the years but this was so good. The information regarding rye and farming etc was totally eye opening and really interesting. Gins tasted great too. Thoroughly recommend. Read more Written 19 February 2023
• jane b 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Great Experience Did this tour with friends on Saturday 11th February Young lady who was giving us the history of the Distillery made it so interesting very informative. Not at all dull they are so passionate about the work they are doing Making a product to be proud of They deserve to be successful Tasters are not to be missed best to have a designated driver This was part of a very enjoyable Christmas present Would highly recommend this tour Read more Written 13 February 2023
• Michael K 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Fascinating explanation of distilling with local rye and generous tasting We were given a distillery tour for two as a gift. As it happened (it was a wet January day) we were the only people on the tour, housed in an old barn, so had personal attention! The guide explained the concept behind the enterprise, which is based on research into crop history by examining the underlying straw on timbered roofs. The base layer will often have been there since pre-Agricultural Revolution times and therefore give an indication of the type of grain that was grown then. A field has been planted with rye of this type and it is allowed to grow naturally. The product is then distilled in one of the specially-built stills here and can subsequently be processed in different ways to yield gin, whisky or vodka. The ethos is very much working with nature in a traditional way and the explanation was most interesting. We were given generous tasters of several of the different gins produced by the distillery, which acquire their different tastes according to which botanicals are added (from the university's Botanical Gardens). The distillery is still experimenting with the whisky to find the most acceptable product. Important tip; don't drive here! The amount of gin we were given (or could have consumed had we been greedy) was greater than the amount of wine you get on most wine tastings! Very good value, then. Read more Written 8 February 2023
• Giubs88 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Independent distillery doing things a little differently Really interesting as different to most distilleries, particularly how they are farming, and the different drinks they are making. I was the only person on the tour which I kind of liked but sure it would be good even with a group. My guide Carmen was really knowledgeable about all the aspects of the distillery and all the farming behind it which really makes this distillery stand out Read more Written 8 December 2022
• Kaka-0972 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Amazing Really enjoyed the tour, carmen was very informative and funny, thoroughly good experience all round And the gin is exceptional Read more Written 4 December 2022

More to explore in Oxford

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

The Oxford Artisan Distillery Tour provided by The Oxford Artisan Distillery

• Advertising
• Add Web Listing

• Exhibitions
• Talks / Seminars
• Accommodation
• Attractions
• Bars, Pubs & Clubs
• Oxford University Colleges
• Entertainment
• Health & Beauty
• Restaurants
• Central Oxford

The Oxford Artisan Distillery (TOAD)

Share "the oxford artisan distillery (toad)", description.

TOAD is grateful for the support of Oxford City Council and the Oxford Preservation Trust and the wider community. Our work to develop the South Park Depot continues. The centre piece of the site is an 18th Century Grade II listed Threshing Barn which currently houses our maturation casks. TOAD is using ancient populations of heritage grain that are organically grown on four local farms. The vast majority of the rye, wheat and barley is pre 2021, which is likely to have been used when the barn was first built, relinking this historical farm to its agricultural ancestry and supporting local industry.

We plan to build a dedicated visitor centre with meeting facilities, bar and restaurant serving wood-fired pizza, artisan breads and cakes made from the same ancient heritage grain.

Further Info

• Location / Region Central Oxford
• Listing categories Attractions / Shopping / Tour / Food and Drink
• E-mail [email protected]
• Website https://www.spiritoftoad.com/oxford
• Phone 20215 767918
• Address Old Depot, South Park, Cheney Lane, Oxford, OX3 7QJ

Opening Hours

One review of “the oxford artisan distillery (toad)”.

Oxford’s first and only distillery is now open for business – offering visitor tours and sales of its spirits at Old Depot, South Parks, Oxford.

The Oxford Artisan Distillery (TOAD) is one of very few distilleries in the UK to produce a range of spirits from grain to glass, making it a very rare, true craft distiller with the highest standards in total provenance. Its main ingredients are unique populations of ancient heritage grain – all grown and harvested in fields close to Oxford. Not just organic, they are grown with sustainable farming methods, once common in medieval England, which replenish the soil and support wildlife. Worldwide, these populations of grain are only found in Oxfordshire – and are grown exclusively for TOAD.

Some of TOAD’s botanicals are hand-picked from The University of Oxford’s Botanic Garden – the oldest garden of its kind in the country and the inspiration behind many of the distiller’s recipes. The magnificent copper stills, Nautilus and Nemo, were designed by TOAD and hand-built by the engineers at South Devon Railways, the team who re-built the famous steam engine, The Flying Scotsman.

Visitor Tours

Visitors are now able to book tours of the distillery either directly or through Experience Oxfordshire’s Visitor Information Centre in Broad St or online at http://www.experienceoxfordshire.org/venue/oxford-artisan-distillery/

Standard tours cost £20 and last about 45 minutes. Visitors can arrange to be picked up in TOAD’s own shuttle bus from the centre of Oxford – and returned after sampling its spirits and learning what makes TOAD a true craft distiller.

Spirits for Sale

TOAD’s first products are Oxford Dry Gin (46% abv, £39.50 per 70cl bottle) and Oxford Rye Vodka (40% abv, £34.95 per 70 cl bottle), both available to buy at the distillery or online at https://www.spiritoftoad.com/spirits . The first gin ever to have been produced in Oxford, TOAD’s Oxford Dry Gin is described as a classic, juniper and citrus gin, true to the authentic gins of old. The City’s first vodka, TOAD’s Oxford Rye Vodka is a pure, smooth spirit with a clean aftertaste of spice – the result of its pure rye grain spirit, distilled on site.

The distillery is open to purchase spirits 11.00-15.00 Monday to Saturday and 14.00-16.00 on Sundays.

Leave a Review Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Enquire about this Listing

• Things to Do
• Restaurants
• Vacation Rentals
• Travel Stories
• Rental Cars
• Add a Place
• Travel Forum
• Travelers' Choice
• Help Center

Toad artisan distillery - The Oxford Artisan Distillery

• Europe    
• United Kingdom (UK)    
• England    
• Oxfordshire    
• Oxford    
• Oxford - Things to Do    
• The Oxford Artisan Distillery

Toad artisan distillery

My family and I attended a tour of the oxford artisan distillery (TOAD) where they give an informative and entertaining explanation of who and how the distillery was set up with a history of each key member of the team. We experienced a tour of the distillery and were able to inspect the raw ingredients and sample the gin at different stages of its processing. The staff were extremely friendly and entertaining and were extremely well informed of the production of different liquors. Whilst they are well known for their gin, they also produce other spirits such as vodka. We were hoping for some sloe gin, but alas they didn’t have any available. They did say they would contact us as soon as they have finished production so I am looking forward to that. Highly recommend visiting this small distillery in the heart of oxford city.

Great tour - and great product (looking forward to the Rye Whiskey in a few years!) - both the vodka and the gin are exceptionally smooth. Friendly, enthusiastic, informative and very hands on and ask lots of questions sort of a tour - Charlie was an excellent guide. Highly recommended - and only round the corner from where I work, so keen to see what the new cafe will be like when they get around to that.

My husband and I went on the TOAD tour. It was a birthday gift for him :) it was amazing!! We did the founders tour ... definitely do this! Its so worth the little extra money as you get more insight into the founders, their journey, TOAD and of course you get to try more alcohol which is a bonus!! We were lucky to have 2 founders on our tour they were great, so passion and enthusiastic about their products. The tour was so interesting and we found out so much we didn’t know about gin and other alcohols!Such a fun tour! TOAD is a great company aiming to produce gins/vodkas/whiskeys etc that are made from local produce and help the local community/environment. We need to encourage more companies like this to succeed :) Definitely definitely do this tour and also support TOAD! Also forgot to say their gin and vodka is AMAZING!! I have never liked vodka until I did this tour :)

Interesting tour, the staff were enthusiastic about their unusual product and it was infectious. Fascinating to hear their plans, progress & commitment to a distinctive drink.

Went with a friend on a friday tour. Was shown around by Charlie who helps with the distilling so actually knows his stuff and will answer questions. Then was shown around by head Distiller Cory who's enthusiasm was contagious. Very well informed, very casual and friendly environment On top of that, the gins and vodkas we tried were bloody lovely. Definately recommend to anyone.

Very informative tour around this fascinating distillery. Lots of information about the process from nice, interesting people. More importantly, the Gin and vodka tasted sublime!

Find anything you save across the site in your account

Joseph Stiglitz and the Meaning of Freedom

By John Cassidy

In the early days of the COVID -19 pandemic, when there was no vaccine in sight and more than a thousand people who had contracted the virus were dying each day in the United States, Joseph Stiglitz, the economics professor and Nobel laureate, was isolating with his wife at home, on the Upper West Side. Stiglitz, who is now eighty-one, was a high-risk individual, and he followed the government’s guidelines on masking and social distancing scrupulously. Not everyone did, of course, and on the political right there were complaints that the mask mandate, in particular, was an unjustified infringement on individual freedom. Stiglitz strongly disagreed. “I thought it was very clear that this was an example where one person’s freedom is another’s unfreedom,” he told me recently. “Wearing a mask was a very little infringement on one person’s freedom, and not wearing a mask was potentially a large infringement on others.”

It also struck Stiglitz, who had served as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton Administration, that the experience of the pandemic could provide an opportunity for a wide-ranging examination of the question of freedom and unfreedom, which he had been thinking about from an economic perspective for many years. The result is a new book, “ The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society ,” in which he seeks to reclaim the concept of freedom for liberals and progressives. “Freedom is an important value that we do and ought to cherish, but it is more complex and more nuanced than the Right’s invocation,” he writes. “The current conservative reading of what freedom means is superficial, misguided, and ideologically motivated. The Right claims to be the defender of freedom, but I’ll show that the way they define the word and pursue it has led to the opposite result, vastly reducing the freedoms of most citizens.”

Stiglitz’s title is a play on “ The Road to Serfdom ,” Friedrich Hayek’s famous jeremiad against socialism, published in 1944. In making his argument, Stiglitz takes the reader on a broad tour of economic thinking and recent economic history, which encompasses everyone from John Stuart Mill to Hayek and Milton Friedman— the author of the 1962 book “ Capitalism and Freedom ,” which has long been a free-market bible—to Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump . The going can get a bit heavy when Stiglitz is explaining some tricky economic concepts, but his essential argument comes across very clearly. It is encapsulated in a quote from Isaiah Berlin, the late Oxford philosopher, which he cites on his first page and returns to repeatedly: “Freedom for the wolves has often meant death to the sheep.”

Stiglitz begins not with pandemic-era mask mandates but with the American plague of gun violence. He notes that there is a simple reason why the United States has far more gun deaths than other countries do. It has far more guns, and, thanks to a tendentious reading of the Second Amendment by the courts, including the Supreme Court, many Americans now regard owning a gun, or even a closet full of semi-automatic rifles, as a constitutionally protected right. “The rights of one group, gun owners, are placed above what most others would view as a more fundamental right, the right to live,” Stiglitz writes. “To rephrase Isaiah Berlin’s quote . . . ‘Freedom for the gun owners has often meant death to schoolchildren and adults killed in mass shootings.’ ”

Gun violence and the spread of diseases by people who refuse to abide by health guidelines are examples of what economists call externalities, an awkward word that is derived from the fact that certain actions (such as refusing to wear a mask) or market transactions (such as the sale of a gun) can have negative (or positive) consequences to the outside world. “Externalities are everywhere,” Stiglitz writes. The biggest and most famous negative externalities are air pollution and climate change, which derive from the freedom of businesses and individuals to take actions that create harmful emissions. The argument for restricting this freedom, Stiglitz points out, is that doing so will “expand the freedom of people in later generations to exist on a livable planet without having to spend a huge amount of money to adapt to massive changes in climate and sea levels.”

In all these cases, Stiglitz argues, restrictions on behavior are justified by the over-all increase in human welfare and freedom that they produce. In the language of cost-benefit analysis, the costs in terms of infringing on individual freedom of action are much smaller than the societal benefits, so the net benefits are positive. Of course, many gun owners and anti-maskers would argue that this isn’t true. Pointing to the gun-violence figures and to scientific studies showing that masking and social distancing did make a difference to COVID -transmission rates, Stiglitz gives such arguments short shrift, and he insists that the real source of the dispute is a difference in values. “Are there responsible people who really believe that the right to not be inconvenienced by wearing a mask is more important than the right to live?” he asks.

In 2002, five years after he left the White House, Stiglitz published “ Globalization and Its Discontents ,” which was highly critical of the International Monetary Fund, a multilateral lending agency based in Washington. The book’s success—and the Nobel—turned him into a public figure, and, over the years, he followed it up with further titles on the global financial crisis, inequality, the cost of the war in Iraq, and other subjects. As a vocal member of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, Stiglitz has expressed support for tighter financial regulations, international debt relief, the Green New Deal , and hefty taxes on very high incomes and large agglomerations of wealth.

During our sit-down interview, Stiglitz told me that, for a long time, he had cavilled at the negative conception of freedom used by conservative economists and politicians, which referred primarily to the ability to escape taxation, regulation, and other forms of government compulsion. As an economist accustomed to thinking in theoretical terms, Stiglitz conceived of freedom as expanding “opportunity sets”—the range of options that people can choose from—which are usually bounded, in the final analysis, by individuals’ incomes. Once you reframe freedom in this more positive sense, anything that reduces a person’s range of choices, such as poverty, joblessness, or illness, is a grave restriction on liberty. Conversely, policies that expand people’s opportunities to make choices, such as income-support payments and subsidies for worker training or higher education, enhance freedom.

Adopting this framework in “The Road to Freedom,” Stiglitz reserves his harshest criticisms for the free-market economists, conservative politicians, and business lobbying groups, who, over the past couple of generations, have used arguments about expanding freedom to promote policies that have benefitted rich and powerful interests at the expense of society at large. These policies have included giving tax cuts to wealthy individuals and big corporations, cutting social programs, starving public projects of investment, and liberating industrial and financial corporations from regulatory oversight. Among the ills that have resulted from this conservative agenda, Stiglitz identifies soaring inequality, environmental degradation, the entrenchment of corporate monopolies, the 2008 financial crisis, and the rise of dangerous right-wing populists like Donald Trump. These baleful outcomes weren’t ordained by any laws of nature or laws of economics, he says. Rather, they were “a matter of choice, a result of the rules and regulations that had governed our economy. They had been shaped by decades of neoliberalism , and it was neoliberalism that was at fault.”

Stiglitz’s approach to freedom isn’t exactly new, of course. Rousseau famously remarked that “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” In “ Development as Freedom ,” published in 1999, the Harvard economist and philosopher Amartya Sen argued, in the context of debates about poverty and economic growth in developing economies, that the goal of development should be to expand people’s “capabilities,” which he defined as their opportunities to do things like nourish themselves, get educated, and exercise political freedoms. “The Road to Freedom” falls in this tradition, which includes another noted philosopher, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Stiglitz cites Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech, delivered in January, 1941, in which the President added freedom from want and freedom from fear to freedom of speech and freedom of worship as fundamental liberties that all people should enjoy.

“A person facing extremes of want and fear is not free,” Stiglitz writes. He describes how, at a high-school reunion, he spoke with former classmates from the city he grew up in—Gary, Indiana, which had once been a thriving center of steel production. “When they graduated from high school, they said, they had planned to get a job at the mill just like their fathers. But with another economic downturn hitting they had no choice —no freedom—but to join the military . . . . Deindustrialization was taking away manufacturing jobs, leaving mainly opportunities that made use of their military training, such as the police force.”

Among the hats Stiglitz wears is one as chief economist at the Roosevelt Institute, a progressive think tank. He doesn’t claim to have a surefire recipe for reviving rusting American steel towns. But in the second half of “The Road to Freedom” he calls for the creation of a “progressive capitalism” that would look nothing like the neoliberal variant he has spent the past two decades excoriating. In this “good society,” the government would employ a full range of tax, spending, and regulatory policies to reduce inequality, rein in corporate power, and develop the sorts of capital that don’t appear in G.D.P. figures or corporate profit-and-loss statements: human capital (education), social capital (norms and institutions that foster trust and coöperation), and natural capital (environmental resources, such as a stable climate and clean air). Not-for-profits and workers’ coöperatives would play a larger role than they do now, particularly in sectors where the profit motive can easily lead to abuses, such as caregiving for the sick and elderly.

In political terms, Stiglitz started out as a self-described centrist. Over the years, he has shifted to the left and become ever more gimlet-eyed about how policies and laws are made and upheld, and whom they benefit. In “The Road to Freedom,” he inveighs against the Supreme Court for adopting the perspective of the “white male slave-owning drafters of the Constitution,” and reminds us that conservative billionaires and major corporations underwrote the neoliberal policy revolution, which bestowed upon big corporations what Stiglitz refers to as “The Freedom to Exploit.” He writes, “We cannot divorce the current distribution of income and wealth from the current and historical distribution of power.”

Given this conjuncture, and the rise of authoritarian populists like Trump, Orbán , and Bolsonaro , it is easy to get fatalistic about the prospects for creating the “good society” that Stiglitz describes, in which “freedoms of citizens to flourish, to live up to their potential . . . are most expansive.” He’s under no illusion that winning the battle of ideas would be sufficient to bring about such a transformation. But he’s surely right when he writes that, if “we successfully dismantle the myths about freedom that have been propagated by the Right,” and reshape the popular conception of human liberty in a more mutual and positive direction, it would be an important first step.

And how likely is that? In his book, Stiglitz lists a number of reasons to be pessimistic, including the fact that “neoliberal ideology runs deep in society,” and that people stubbornly “discount information that runs counter to their preconceptions and presumptions.” On the positive side, he points to a widespread rejection, particularly among younger people, of the neoliberal approach to issues like inequality and climate change. During our conversation, he cited the Biden Administration’s industrial policy, which provides generous incentives to green-energy producers and purchasers of electric vehicles, as an example of a “sea change” in views about economic policymaking. “Neoliberalism is on the defensive,” he said. However, he also noted the enduring power of simplistic slogans about freedom and averred that he didn’t want to sound like a Pollyanna. “I am optimistic, over-all,” he said. “But it is going to be a battle.” ♦

New Yorker Favorites

A Harvard undergrad took her roommate’s life, then her own. She left behind her diary.

Ricky Jay’s magical secrets .

A thirty-one-year-old who still goes on spring break .

How the greatest American actor lost his way .

What should happen when patients reject their diagnosis ?

The reason an Addams Family painting wound up hidden in a university library .

Fiction by Kristen Roupenian: “Cat Person”

Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker .

News & Politics

By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

By Manvir Singh

By Louis Menand

By Jay Caspian Kang