A delightfully peculiar tale

Aoife Carrigy talks to Lesley Gracie, the conjurer of flavours behind Hendrick’s gins

Master distiller Lesley Gracie: ‘I see taste in terms of shapes, and for me the Hendrick’s flavour is a round shape’. Picture: John Paul Photography

“As you’ve probably gathered, I’m a really weird character.” It’s a different way to start an interview, but then again Lesley Gracie is a little unusual, with her silver mullet snaking all the way down the back of her ink-blue distillery overalls.

The master distiller who gave us the modern classic that is Hendrick's Gin - and in doing so helped kickstart the international renaissance of gin - even sounds a little unlikely. Her accent ...