Sacred Spirits (previously known as Sacred Microdistillery) is a microdistillery in Highgate, London. It distills its spirits under a vacuum in glassware, and thus at a lower temperature than traditional pot stills, which operate at atmospheric pressure. The microdistillery operates out of the back room of a residential house, with a vacuum plant in a wendy house in the distiller's back garden. It is an authorised Customs and Excise distillery.

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Sacred Spirits was established in London in 2009 and is the only vacuum distillery in London.^[1] Sipsmith Distillery in Hammersmith started at a similar time, but they use an atmospheric pressure copper pot technique. Sacred Spirits (originally named Sacred Microdistillery) was launched by Ian Hart^[2] and Hilary Whitney initially as a pure Gin distillery, but now produce flavoured vodkas using the same process.

Ian Hart, who had previously worked as a Wall Street banker, was laid off in 2008.^[3] After his layoff, he began to conduct tests on the production of gin starting in September 2008.^[3][4] After conducting 23 gin-making experiments, he made the initial batch of Sacred Gin on May 22, 2009, and founded Sacred Spirits.^[3] The recipe, which had 12 botanicals including juniper, cardamom, nutmeg, and Boswellia sacra, had a "fresh, creamy and aromatic quality" according to Tina Brown in her book Gin: An Illustrated History.^[4] Sacred Gin received a Double Gold Medal during the 2013 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.^[3] Eric Grossman wrote in his book Craft Spirits that "Sacred has turned gin on its head by favoring vacuum distillation instead of traditional pot distillation".^[3] The distillery is in Highgate, North London in Ian Hart's house.^[4][5] His wife, Hilary Whitney, operates the company with him.^[3] People from 17 countries purchased 34,000 bottles of gin from the company in 2014.^[6] Sacred Spirits also has created vodka, whisky, vermouth, and negroni products.^[4]

Sacred Microdistillery is based on a residential street in North London.^[7] It distributes its products to over 50 bars and restaurants in North and Central London,^[8] This includes Duke's Bar in St James's, where Ian Fleming invented the Vesper cocktail.^[9] It is also stocked by Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly, and Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Oxfordshire,^[1] and Gerry's of Old Compton Street.

Hart started on a small scale, and personally delivered stock to local bars and restaurants on London's tubes and buses^[10] before acquiring an on-trade distributor, Coe Vintners.^[8]

Sacred Microdistillery's first two spirits are Sacred Vodka and Sacred Gin, both of which are produced in small batches of a few hundred bottles a time, from English Grain Spirit. Each batch is made with two or three fractions: the initial one is collected under glass coils cooled with iced water (about 0 °C), the middle is collected under a cold finger cooled to -89 °C with dry ice (solid CO₂), and the final fraction is collected under liquid nitrogen under a cold finger at -196 °C.^[11] The separately distilled botanicals therefore produce 2-3 fractions each, which are blended as the final part of the process.^[12]

Sacred Gin is 40% ABV. It uses 12 botanicals including: Juniper, Angelica Root, Fresh Orange Peel, Fresh Lemon Peel and Fresh Lime Peel, Cardamom.^[13] and Frankincense.

Sacred Vodka is 40% ABV. It is a wholly redistilled flavoured vodka using 7 botanicals including: Cubeb, Angelica Root, Nutmeg, and Frankincense.

In his book, Craft Spirits, Eric Grossman praised Sacred Gin for being "a beautifully balanced spirit".^[3] Writing in his book The Book of Gin about Sacred Gin, Richard Barnett said, "there's a remarkable clarity and intensity of flavor here, balanced with a fragrant creaminess" and "this is a gin which can be nosed and sipped like a good wine".^[14]