Our Story
The story of Three Counties Spirits Co really begins with the birth of our co-founder and distiller Luke. Born into a long line of hoteliers, publicans and chefs it was as if Luke’s journey into food, drink and flavour was already laid ahead of him. Shortly after he was born in the late eighties his parents opened a restaurant in his home city of Exeter. This is where Luke would spend a lot of his time growing up and taking on board all the sights, smells and tastes. Little did he know he was building a passion for food and drink, and more importantly, flavour!
It wasn’t long before Luke was helping in the kitchen grating the cheese and chopping the parsley for the dumplings. The smell of freshly cut parsley still transports him back to the upturned beer crate and heavily folded apron in that kitchen. Fast forward to his mid-teens and the Naked Chef appeared on TV. That was it, Luke was set on becoming a chef. His path wasn’t a traditional one (something that would repeat itself in years to come) but in his early twenties Luke embarked on this journey.
Learning from two of the very chefs his father had trained when they were kids, Luke quickly developed a sense of taste and an appreciation for flavour. Quickly working his way through the ranks of several high profile kitchens lead by some of the best chefs in London, Luke would hone his palette. Not content with working for others for the rest of his life Luke and his wife Fiona opened their first “restaurant” in 2016. Again going against the traditional format this 10 seat chef’s table was all about the experience of great hospitality enjoying great tasting food and drink.
This business quickly grew and Luke went from being the chef to employing other chefs that were able to deliver high quality food that packed a punch of flavour. Luke would always emphasise to his team that no matter how pretty the food looked, if it didn’t taste great it shouldn’t be on the menu. This real passion for flavour can be attributed to one great chef, James Knight-Pacheco who Luke worked with and for more than once. James would remind his team daily that he wanted the guests' heads to explode when eating the food because it tasted so good!
During the next eight years as a restaurateur Luke would develop his love of great flavours and enhance his passion for amazing food and drink. Learning more about fine wines and exceptional spirits along with crafting delicious mixed drinks. Being able to step out of the kitchen and into the bar enabled Luke to develop a taste and passion for spirits including his now bedrock, rum. Always being drawn to the more aged rums due to their deep, intense flavours.
Following Luke’s exit from the restaurant world in late 2022 he got to work on several projects but there was the burning desire to create something special. He still wanted to deliver a great experience to customers with a product that packed flavour and went against the grain of the mundane. So this is where you find us now, the birth of a new distillery on the edge of Milton Keynes. Crafting high quality spirits from scratch in small batches. Not following a beaten path but creating our own route to flavour town. Three Counties Spirits Co started with the production of Landlocked English Rum but will become a hub of flavour packed spirits of all categories. It’s not so much about the type of spirit but the flavours that they deliver and the pleasure they bring to our customers.
Luke had never distilled anything before starting Three Counties Spirits Co but he simply applied his chef’s ability to understand the recipe and process required. After a few trial batches he landed on a base white rum with bags of flavour that’s super smooth and a pleasure to drink. Luke then looked to his experience as a chef to create a line of flavoured rums with a focus on the quality of the ingredients and the experience they will deliver to the drinker. Luke looked back to his time working for Heston Blumenthal in London and now roasts his pineapples while brushing them with caramel before infusing this flavour into our rum.
There’s one thing we can promise everyone that drinks a Three Counties Spirits Co product and that is that you won’t have tasted another spirit/drink like it. We’re creating products that we want to drink in the hope that everyone else will enjoy them with us. We’re not creating products for specific people, we’re creating them to be enjoyed by everyone. If you say you’re not a rum drinker then we say you clearly have never had our rums.
Three Counties Sprits Co is only just getting started on this journey into spirited, independent, flavoursome drinks and we hope you’ll join us for the ride.