Continuing our journey through Pembrokeshire, Anthony visited Still Wild Distillery, a hidden gem tucked within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The visit followed his time at Velfrey Vineyard and revealed a very different expression of Welsh craft, one rooted in foraging, chemistry, and a deep respect for the land.
Still Wild was founded by James, a trained chemist who turned his scientific background toward distilling. Working from a converted Victorian cowshed, he has created a truly distinctive range of spirits built entirely around locally foraged botanicals. The distillery sits within one of the UK’s most biodiverse coastal regions, surrounded by estuaries, marshland, and meadows that provide inspiration and ingredients in equal measure.
Inside the distillery, James explained his process. Rows of bottles filled the small space, ready for bottling the next day. At the heart of it all stood a vacuum still, an apparatus that allows ethanol to boil at room temperature. By distilling cold rather than hot, delicate aromas remain intact, giving each spirit a clarity and freshness that traditional methods can lose.
He also uses a dehydrator to preserve plants for later use, ensuring that around 90% of the botanicals come directly from Pembrokeshire. Every small detail, from the equipment to the foraging, supports a single goal, which is to create drinks that express the wild Welsh landscape.
Anthony tried a drop of sea buckthorn distillate, bright and salty with a savoury finish. “It’s quite punchy but beautifully balanced,” he said. James smiled, describing how it’s used to season cocktails and bring the taste of the coast into every glass.
Anthony’s visit came about through Faber’s search for British-made ingredients for its drinks list. “When we set out to create a drinks list entirely from British shorelines, vermouth became a challenge,” Anthony explained. “That changed once we met James.”
Together, they developed a British alternative for key cocktail ingredients, with Still Wild’s expertise filling in the gaps where imported products once stood. It was through this partnership that Faber began working with Still Wild’s vermouths and spirits, all crafted using wild Welsh plants.
James introduced Anthony to the range, beginning with Sweet Vermouth, Wales’s first of its kind. Unlike the Spanish or Italian styles, this expression is inspired by the Welsh terroir, made with local fruits like sloes, rosehips, and elderberries, alongside native spices. Their Dry Vermouth adds crispness without the sweetness, perfect for martinis.
Then there’s the Coastal Gin, which captures the Pembrokeshire seascape with seabuckthorn, seaweed, rock samphire, and cornflower. The Oyster Vodka uses discarded oyster shells from Atlantic Edge to create a silky texture with subtle mineral notes. Finally, Reev, inspired by the Welsh word for crimson, a vivid aperitif with the character and bitterness of classic Italian reds, but made entirely from Welsh botanicals.
Nothing is wasted. Once the oyster shells are used, they’re passed to a local chicken farmer as mineral feed, keeping the process circular and sustainable.
To show where these ingredients come from, James led Anthony out to the estuary. Surrounded by thistles and tall grasses, they began foraging through the landscape. There was meadowsweet, with its soft scent of marzipan and vanilla, sea wormwood, rare and aromatic, forming the backbone of Still Wild’s vermouths, and marsh samphire, crisp and intensely salty.
“For us, foraging is about balance,” James explained. “If someone comes through a day later, they shouldn’t notice I’ve been there. You take a little, spread your picking wide, and make sure you understand how these plants live together.”
They continued exploring, finding sea beet, the ancestor of beetroot and Swiss chard, thriving by the estuary. James spoke about how each plant contributes to flavour, sustainability, and a sense of place. “Different parts of my life have come together here — kitchens, science, foraging. The product speaks to that mix.”
Still Wild’s botanicals include a wide variety of locally foraged plants, each adding its own note to the distillery’s spirits.
Each habitat, whether that’s cliff, estuary, meadow or woodland, finds expression in their spirits, distilled cold to preserve every nuance.
“People forget about this part of Pembrokeshire,” James said as they looked across the water. “Everyone knows the coastline, but the estuaries are incredible. This mix of saltwater and freshwater gives us plants and flavours that exist nowhere else.”
Still Wild has built a reputation for originality and craft, creating drinks that are as expressive as they are sustainable. Their cold vacuum distillation technique and focus on native ingredients have put them at the forefront of a new movement in Welsh spirits. In 2020, they released Wales’s first vermouth, earning recognition across the UK and beyond.
Today, their work continues to highlight the link between land, science, and creativity, which is a shared ethos with Faber’s own approach to food and drink.