When it comes to sourcing some of his coastal gin botanicals, James Harrison-Allen finds himself in a rather unusual position – he has to apply for a permit from King Charles III.
The founder and director of Still Wild, a vermouth and gin distillery based in Pembrokeshire, Wales, forages a large proportion of his ingredients, and has to get permission from the King in order to source the seaweed that he uses. ‘If you want to [forage] any wild plant for any kind of business, it always has to be done with permission, and technically the royal family owns the area of the seabed up to the high-tide mark,’ he explains as we contemplate his diminutive production facilities in the south of the county in southwest Wales. ‘So we have to get royal permission to pick the seaweed. There’s one beach we have a licence for. You write an application with a map, saying what you’re picking and how much, and
