Captivated by the rugged charm of Cornwall’s coastline, Alex Palmer-Samborne transformed his passion for the outdoors into an inspiring business venture
By Susie Atkinson
Lantic Bay, nestled within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty between Fowey and Polperro, boasts crystal-clear waters, a shoreline of white sand and shingle, and dramatic cliffs that frame the scene. Protected by the National Trust, its unspoiled beauty became the muse for Alex Palmer-Samborne’s life transformation—leaving behind his old life in London to embrace the Cornish coast and establish his own gin distillery.
Lantic Bay is a popular boating areas – walkers can acces the local beaches via the South West Coast Path. Photography credit: John Hersey and Alex Palmer-Samborne
Alex’s love for the coast runs deep. Growing up in Devon, he spent much of his childhood exploring the beaches and rugged countryside of the south coast with his family. ‘My parents were keen seafarers and we’d spend hours on the water,’ he recalls. Those seaside memories—salty breezes, driftwood fires, and foraging with his mother—set the stage for what would one day become his passion project. But at the time, distilling gin wasn’t even on the radar.
Fast forward a few decades, and Alex was living a very different life working in the corporate world of finance in London. His work was intense and fast-paced and he found himself longing for the calm of the countryside. Surfboards in tow, he would escape the city every weekend, catching the Friday train to chase waves in Cornwall. ‘The sea has always been my reset button,’ he explains. ‘There’s nothing like being out on the water to clear your head.’
Alex on the cliffs above Lantic Bay – he says the sea has always been his ‘reset button’. Photography credit: John Hersey and Alex Palmer-Samborne
During his high-pressure career, Alex’s passion for food and ingredients continued to simmer. Evenings with his London flatmates often revolved around cooking ambitious meals and dreaming of life beyond the city. ‘We used to talk about opening a gastropub by the sea,’ Alex recalls. ‘It was always there, this idea of creating something rooted in the southwest.’
Elderflowers are a key ingredient in Lantic’s Morva and Summer Foraged Gins. Photography credit: John Hersey and Alex Palmer-Samborne
A MOMENT OF INSPIRATION
But it was a trip to Barcelona several years later that inspired the idea for a complete career change. While in Barcelona, Alex noticed his Spanish friends sipping gin and tonics from oversized Copa de Balon glasses. It was a revelation. ‘I’d written off gin years ago—my grandmother’s Gordons had left a lasting impression,’ he laughs. ‘But this was completely different. Lighter, fresher, and full of flavour.’
Back in the UK, the burgeoning craft gin movement was proving that gin could be reinvented, moving beyond the traditional juniper-heavy profile. Inspired, Alex began exploring the possibilities of distilling his own gin, using foraged products from the Cornish hedgerow. Then, just before his 40th birthday, Alex was made redundant. Rather than seeing it as a setback, he embraced the opportunity. ‘I thought, ‘This is it. It’s now or never.’
With his redundancy package as seed money, Alex left London and moved to a small barn on the edge of a friend’s farm in Cornwall. He created a distillery downstairs and a home upstairs. The barn, surrounded by fields, ancient woodland, and a meandering river, was the perfect place to start anew. ‘It felt like coming home,’ he says.
Harvesting rock samphire, one of the six foraged wild botanicals used in Lantic Gin. Photography credit: John Hersey and Alex Palmer-Samborne
FORAGING BY THE SEABorn and raised near the sea, Alex’s love of the outdoors was forged early. ‘Foraging and cooking were just part of my life as a child,’ he says. ‘I didn’t realize it at the time, but those early experiences sparked a lifelong fascination with flavours and the natural world.’
From the start, Alex was committed to crafting a gin that was truly local and sustainable, using ingredients from the land around him. ‘The process isn’t just about flavour—it’s about sustainability.’ Alex forages responsibly, taking only what’s abundant and ensuring the landscape is left undisturbed. ‘It’s about working with nature, not against it,’ he explains.
The Winter Foraged Gin is aged in oak casks to add a rich, warm depth to the flavour. Photography credit: John Hersey and Alex Palmer-Samborne
‘I didn’t have a background in spirits or distilling,’ he admits. ‘I taught myself by reading everything I could find and spending hours distilling botanicals one by one.’ He would collect local plants—gorse, heather, wild water mint—and carefully distil each one with alcohol separately to understand its flavour. ‘Sometimes you’d find something that seemed perfect, but as soon as you added it to alcohol, the taste would change completely,’ he explains. ‘It was a steep learning curve.’
Alex would start his day with a foraging walk along the cliffs, accompanied by his labrador, Bentley. ‘Bentley was the head of foraging,’ Alex says with a smile. ‘He’d clamber up rocky outcrops and sniff out the best spots. I wouldn’t have explored half as much without him.’
Bentley’s recent passing has left a void, but Alex still feels his presence on his walks. ‘I think the gin would have been very different without those years spent exploring together,’ he reflects.
After over 50 trials, Alex landed on a recipe that captured the unique character he was searching for and Lantic Gin was born, named after the bay that inspired it. The blend includes six hand-foraged botanicals—gorse flower, heather, rock samphire, apple mint, water mint, and lemon thyme—alongside traditional ingredients. In 2018, he sold his very first bottle of Lantic Gin at a local shop. The next day, he sold six cases to a distributor. ‘That was the moment I knew this could work,’ he says.
Morva Foraged Gin is craftd t’to represent Cornwall at its peak, in August’ – the name is taken from the Cornish for ‘a place by the sea’. Photography credit: John Hersey and Alex Palmer-Samborne
A NEW WAY OF LIVING
For Alex, the move to Cornwall wasn’t just about starting a business—it was about transforming his life. ‘Living by the sea changes everything,” he says. “You slow down, you reconnect with what’s around you.’ Weekends often involve sailing to hidden coves, cooking seafood over driftwood fires, and sharing Lantic Gin with friends under the stars. ‘Those moments are what inspire me,’ Alex says. ‘They’re what I try to bottle.’
With numerous accolades now under its belt, including a Silver and Gold Medal at the International Wine and Spirit Competition, Alex hopes that Lantic Gin will be a feature in high-end restaurants, where its story and flavour can shine. ‘I want people to taste Cornwall in every glass,’ he says. ‘To feel that connection to the coast. My dream is for people to take a sip and feel like they’re right here, by the sea.’
Lantic Gin is available online and in select retailers. For more information, visit lanticgin.com
