Rochester Cathedral 604 Gin

Rochester Cathedral has just launched a new gin to raise much-needed funds following the pandemic.

Rochester Cathedral Gin, 604 on sale now.

The gin, called 604, celebrates the cathedral’s heritage as England’s second oldest cathedral and features its famous fresco on the bottle’s label painted to mark the Cathedral’s 1,400th anniversary in 2004. 

604 is a collaboration with the team at Copper Rivet Distillery in nearby Chatham.

Dr Philip Hesketh, the Dean of Rochester said:

“We are enormously grateful to the Copper Rivet Distillery for collaborating on this project which will help raise crucial funds for the Cathedral every time a glass of 604 is raised.”

There are just 240 bottles of 604 gin which went on sale yesterday (15 Nov) and are only available to buy in the Cathedral. It is inspired by historical recipes, using the botanicals: juniper, coriander, lemon peel, orange peel, orris root, and angelica root.

Bob Russell, Founder of the Copper Rivet Distillery and a member of the Rochester Cathedral Business Guild said he was delighted to have been chosen to produce the 604 Gin for Rochester Cathedral.

“Rochester’s ancient cathedral has been at the heart of Medway’s community for centuries. This collaboration underlines our commitment to the fabric of the community and shows the success that can be achieved when we work together towards shared goals.”

Rochester Cathedral is the fourth Church of England cathedral to launch its own label gin to raise funds. Blackburn, Bristol, and Portsmouth have all worked with local distilleries to create gins while Ripon Cathedral brought out a limited edition of 100 bottles of St Wilfrid Gin for Christmas 2019.

604 retails at £39.99 a bottle. All profits will go towards maintaining Rochester Cathedral, and keeping it open free of charge.

The gin has been featured on Kent Online here.