Karl and Cathy Mason created the brand in 2012 and launched their first gin a year later on World Gin Day, 13 June 2013. Originally the business was located in Bedale Hall for the offices with the stills situated in Cambridge. The business expanded and moved into one site at Aiskew which was formerly a mechanics workshop. Known as Yorkshire Dry Gin, the gin is distilled in a traditional dry gin method using a copperalembicstill, with all the botanicals present in the still. This process is known as the London Dry Gin method. The company also uses Harrogate Spring Water in its gins. Initially they started out with 120 bottles from the first still in 2013. In 2018, the company produced over 250,000 bottles of gin and vodka from its Aiskew distillery and recorded a £3 million turnover. On 2 April 2019, one of the gin stills exploded and caused a fire in the distillery. Whilst everyone was evacuated safely and no injuries were reported, the fire caused extensive damage to the distillery. Whilst the directors of the company secured office space in Bedale Hall, their gin products have been bottled at a "food-grade premises" nearby. They confirmed that they were looking for a brand new location rather than returning to the old distillery at Aiskew. A new distillery has been installed at a location on the Leeming Bar industrial estate, which should be open by early 2020.
Products
Gins
Original
Lavender
Tea - a gin flavoured with Yorkshire Tea, also known as a G and Tea
Slow Distilled Sloe - this gin actually distills the sloe berries, as opposed to the traditional method of infusing them in gin
Steve's Apple - distilled with apples picked from an orchard in Thornton Watlass
Peppered Pear
G12 - only available through one supermarket
G12 Grapefruit & mandarin
Smouldering Heights - a smoky gin infused with beech-smoked and peat-smoked malt, heather and Szechuan pepper. The gin was largely conceived after the distillery was subject to a fire.
Barrel Blended gin - a venture using barrels from the nearby Theakston Brewery.
Awards
At the 2017 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Masons were awarded gold for the Original Dry Yorkshire Gin and their Yorkshire Vodka. The Lavender gin won silver and their Tea gin won a bronze award. By 2018, Masons had won over 50 international awards for their gins, their original blend was voted the best contemporary gin in 2017. The Original and Lavender gins won gold at the World Gin awards in 2018. In 2019 Masons received several awards at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The Lavender Gin won gold, the Original Gin won silver and their Peppered Pear and G12 Botanically Rich Dry Gin took the bronze awards. At the International Wine and Spirit Competition in 2019, Masons Yorkshire Gin Tea Edition won the Gold Award, one of eight such awards given out to gins from across the world.
