It seems ironic that during this global pandemic which has seen me at home for the longest continuous period of time since 2001, this post is about a place called the Last Hope. This was one place that was most certainly on my list of things to do in Puerto Natales before I left.
That evening I planned to go to the Last Hope Bar and Distillery. This was a bar that did free tours of their gin distillery in English at 5.30pm, five days a week. This distillery in Chilean Patagonia is the most southerly gin distillery in the world.
I love gin, I’ve tried gin from all over the world, particular favourites being Ungava gin, a Canadian gin that is bright yellow because it is flavoured with Arctic herbs such as Labrador tea, Australian Ink Gin which is naturally bright blue thanks to the addition of petals from the butterfly pea flower and the Slovenian gin which probably has the best name in the world, Broken Bones!
A Chilean gin, and more specifically, a Patagonian gin, was something I had never tried. I’m not a foodie, but I do enjoy trying local drinks. In Futaleufu I had tried Trakal, which is a Patagonian spirit. I loved it and I had tried in vain to find a bottle to bring home with me. So if I wanted to bring a bottle of a local Patagonian spirit home with me the Last Hope was literally going to be my last hope!
The Last Hope bar and distillery is in a small house along Calle Esmerelda in Puerto Natales. It opened at 5pm and so to be sure to get there in time for the distillery tour at 5.30pm, I was there at about ten past five. This bar had a bit of exclusivity to it. Even though it was technically open, you couldn’t just walk in. The front door was locked. You had to ring the bell to gain entry. Unsurprisingly this small bar had very few people in it when I arrived. I chose a comfortable chair with a small table in front of it close to a window so I could enjoy looking outside. I wanted to try both gins and didn’t know whether there would be a free taste or not. I got my answer straight away. Matt, one of the owners, immediately came over to me with a bottle of Last Hope original gin and a bottle of Last Hope Calafate gin and two shot glasses so that I could sample their product.
I can confirm that both of these gins are really good. I have subsequently done a taste test with other gins in my kitchen cupboard at home, which I’ve had plenty of time for during this enforced stay at home period due to Covid 19, and the original and Calafate gins ranked very highly. The original gin was my favourite amongst the others I had in my cupboard.
If you’re confused about Calafate gin, let me explain. Patagonia is a cold place. Puerto Natales is almost 52 degrees south. That doesn’t sound that far south when you compare it to 52 degrees north. Where I live in Yorkshire, I’m 53 degrees north. But the furthest south you can get on New Zealand’s mainland is 47 degrees. So once you’re at 50 degrees south you’re in cold territory. In common with other cold places, most plants don’t thrive. But plants with berries tend to do quite well in cold climes and Patagonia is no exception. Anyway, that was a very long winded way of telling you that Calafate gin is made from the native purple coloured Calafate berry, only found in Patagonia. Calafate gin is uniquely Patagonian. And it’s purple.
Enough of this rambling. The bar and distillery is owned by a couple of Aussies, Matt and Keira, who went trekking in Patagonia and ended up settling in Puerto Natales when they found a gap in the market. The tax breaks for businesses in Chile made it a very viable proposition.
Matt explained that when they travelled in Chile there were no gin distilleries in the country and so he and Keira had decided to start a business distilling gin and also whisky. Whisky takes longer to produce than gin, so they didn’t have any of their own whisky to taste in the bar as yet, but they did have the gin. They were also a gin and whisky bar, so they had a vast array of gin and whisky to choose from all over the world, as well as a menu of cocktails. The cocktails were very reasonably priced. Matt said if they were in Santiago they could charge more for them, but around £5 was the maximum they could charge here if they wanted to attract locals in as well as tourists. When you could get a bottle of Pisco from the supermarket for £4, no one was going to pay £10 for a cocktail.
I love cocktails, and the cocktail menu was extensive, including several cocktails that are changed every month, so you could only try these cocktails for a limited time. That was largely irrelevant for me as I had much more limited time in Puerto Natales than a whole month. I ordered my first cocktail of the night, it was called a Petrichor, a combination of gin, dry vermouth, black garlic, celery shrub and dill. The addition of black garlic intrigued me, this was the one I absolutely had to try. It might sound odd, but it was my favourite of the night, I really enjoyed the taste.
A tour group came into the bar just after I had got my drink, filling the place up. Once they got their drinks, Matt said the distillery tour in English was about to start and invited us to bring our drinks with us.
Usually when I’ve been on a distillery tour or a wine tour, you do the tour and then have the tasting, this was the first time I’d taken my drink on the tour with me. I also invite you to dismiss any preconceptions you might have about what commercial distilleries are like, the gin here was made in the back shed! It was very much like a home brewing operation. But that was all they needed. They weren’t a multinational corporation, they were a small business in Patagonia. The back shed was all that was necessary to produce great gin.
Matt was very open about the distilling process and the ingredients they used to make their gin unique. We got to smell them all, he explained that they had to experiment with the proportion of ingredients to make the best flavoured gin and that had got them the product they had today. He said they took into consideration what it tasted like with a mixer in it, because most people drank gin with a mixer. He asked if anyone on the tour today drank gin without a mixer. Out of approximately 20 people on the tour, I was the only one who raised my hand. Oh dear! I would argue that makes me the connoisseur of the group…
The whisky was in the barrels at the moment, they hadn’t decided how long they were going to distil it for. It was a gamble because until it came out of the barrels they didn’t know how it would taste.
After the tour I went back into the bar and ordered another cocktail, a Legendary 75, similar to a French 75 and made with Calafate gin. Certainly the prettiest coloured cocktail I had that evening.
I decided I was going to eat here too. They only did bar food, but that was fine for me. A cheese plate was one of my favourite meals. They did a very good cheese plate, with a variety of breads, fruits and vegetables as accompaniment. You only got one type of cheese. Keira, the other owner of the distillery, explained to me that this is what sold. Again, their base was local customers and they didn’t like different cheeses on a cheese board. I do like a variety of cheeses on a cheese board, but I happily accepted this single cheese plate, I was enjoying the atmosphere and the cocktails.
My third cocktail of the night was the aptly named Globetrotter, which I had to try, particularly since it was made with gin and celery, my favourite vegetable. This tasted heavily of celery and the alcohol in this one was very subtle.
I ordered the sticky toffee pudding dessert to go with my cocktail and Keira came and sat and chatted with me for a while. I was very impressed that both of the owners made an effort to talk to their customers. I especially appreciated the gesture as I was on my own. Even though I enjoy travelling on my own, it is nice to chat to people every once in a while so you don’t feel too lonely and I enjoyed talking to Keira. She told me that the men at the next table, one of whom had a jacket with the words “Sacrificial Blood” emblazoned on the back, were a local band. I had been watching them, they were there enjoying a drink, just like everyone else in the bar.
Keira said there was room at the bar if I wanted to sit there, but I was comfortable where I was, so I ordered a final cocktail to round off my night. She’ll be Apples was a mixture of gin, sherry and Benedictine and was much drier than I expected. Benedictine is a favourite liqueur and I know it’s very sweet, so I was anticipating the addition of this to the cocktail would have made it sweeter. Instead the skilful mix of ingredients meant it was very dry.
I enjoyed all of the cocktails, although as I mentioned, the first one with the black garlic in it was my favourite of the night. But the main thing for me was to try something different. I wanted to drink cocktails that I hadn’t come across before and while some of the cocktails were a twist on more traditional drinks, such as the Legendary 75, others were unique. I had thoroughly enjoyed my evening and Matt and Keira had made me feel very welcome. This was also my reward for completing the W Trek, something I hadn’t been sure I would achieve. All in all it was a brilliant night. It was easily the best night out I had on this holiday.
I couldn’t leave the Last Hope empty handed. The temptation to buy Patagonian gin to take home with me was too great to resist. How many kitchen cupboards in Yorkshire would have bottles of Last Hope gin in them? Probably just mine. Last Hope gin isn’t mass produced so every bottle had a batch number and a bottle number on it. It’s a bit special.
And did I buy the Last Hope original gin or the Last Hope Calafate gin? I bought a bottle of each! Of course I did! I loved their original gin, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to buy a bottle of uniquely Patagonian Calafate gin. I certainly wouldn’t find that anywhere else in the world.
And I end this post by saying, that as I continue to sit at home waiting for the opportunity to travel again in the future, I never give up my last hope. We will all travel again and see amazing sights throughout the world soon. And I hope, one day, I make it back to the Last Hope Distillery to try the whisky sitting patiently in that barrel. That would be something to celebrate.
I travelled to Puerto Natales in February 2020
Puerto Natales is located in southern Chile and is the gateway to Torres del Paine National Park.
Last Hope Distillery and Bar is located in the centre of Puerto Natales. It is open 5 days a week during high season. Distillery tours are free. Separate tours are conducted in English and Spanish.
I stayed at Pire Mapu Cottage in Puerto Natales. Breakfast is included in the room rate. They also offer baggage storage for hikers for a nominal fee. This accommodation is within easy walking distance to the bus station. It is a 10 minute walk from the centre of the town.
I travelled to Puerto Natales by bus with Bus Sur who offer transportation by bus throughout southern Chile and Argentina. I travelled to Puerto Natales from El Calafate in Argentina. My onward journey from Puerto Natales was to Punta Arenas.
Read the three part series about my hike on the W Trek in Torres del Paine
The Lazy Writer’s W Trek – Days 1 & 2
The Lazy Writer’s W Trek – Days 3 & 4
The Lazy Writer’s W Trek – Day 5 & Glacier Grey
Read my experiences driving the wild, rugged and remote Carretera Austral.
My Tips for Driving the Carretera Austral
Driving South on the Carretera Austral
Read about my other adventures in Chile
Rafting and Canyoning in Futaleufu
Read about my morning wine tasting experience in Liechtenstein
Wine Tasting in the Prince’s Cellar
