Wolfe Bros Gin Leeds: Meet the bartender brothers behind the proudly-Yorkshire gin that's flying off shelves

Jonathan and Alexander Neil, the owners of Roland’s and Domino Club, founded the business during the pandemic - and now sell their proudly-Yorkshire gin across the country.

The brothers and their colleague Niall McGloin bought a 30-litre still in 2019, which sat unopened as they were busy running their bars. But the next spring, Roland’s and the Domino Club were forced to close in the first lockdown.

Jonathan told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “It’s every bartender’s dream to make their own liquid. We suddenly had nothing to do, so we took the still out of the box and started messing around, thinking of making something we could sell in our venues when they finally reopened.

“That’s where it all started, in a small room in the back of Roland’s Leeds. We had one 30 litre still and a hot plate, and loads of ideas.”

Jonathan and Alexander grew up in Yarm, North Yorkshire, where their mum and dad ran pubs since the 1980s. Both followed in their parents’ footsteps and have worked as bartenders for decades, founding Roland’s bar in Call Lane in 2014, followed by a sister bar in Harrogate, and the Domino Club in the Grand Arcade 2017.

With extensive knowledge about what bartenders - and their customers - want from a spirit, their gin flew out from their bars once they reopened and won an International Wine and Spirits Award just three weeks after launching.

The award-winning London Dry Gin is copper-pot distilled in tiny 20 litre batches, using eight botanicals with leading citrus notes. Wolfe Bros also produces four flavoured gins, including raspberry and hibiscus.

Jonathan said: “It started with just three guys with an idea, simply being given the time to do it instead of running bars, and it’s crazy how it’s ended up growing into what it’s become.”

Wolfe Bros quickly outgrew the back room of Roland’s and is now based in a distillery in Dolly Lane, just outside the city centre. As well as its five permanent gins, the distillery produces zero-waste limoncello using waste product from its gins and lemon husks from its bars, as well as the occasional bespoke spirit for bars or events.

It recently created a unique flavoured gin for one of the Domino Club’s young bartenders, who flew out to Paris for a cocktail competition - and scooped second place.

Jonathan, 43, said: “I’ve been working behind bars for 25 years and, as I’m getting older, I really love seeing the younger generation coming through - bringing different energies and styles to creating our drinks portfolio. They’ve got their own ideas about what flavour profiles could work and what could make a great drink."

He added: “My ultimate goal is to buy a farm and move my distillery there, somewhere within 20 minutes of Leeds, and turn it into a generational thing. I want to create something, in Yorkshire, that outlives me - that will still be there in 100 or even 200 years time. The opportunity to kickstart something like that is what motivates me the most.”