The Grand Tour

James May Reveals Surprising News About Latest Business Venture

In a recent DriveTribe video where James May meets the brand’s V10-powered BMW 5-Series E61 Touring, he reveals that his latest business venture, James Gin, is yet to make any profit.

James Gin began last year as the Grand Tour presenter documented his gin journey. Beginning with the chemistry and formulating his preferred flavour, May decided to infuse the gin with Asian spices and good old British parsnip – a first for a drink of this type.

August of 2021 saw him reveal the company’s first bottle, named James Gin: Asian Parsnip. The first batch sold out almost immediately, and positive reviews on the spirit shot across the internet, including ours.

Watch our review

March of 2022 saw James return to our screens through the Power of FoodTribe, now rebranded to ‘What Next?’, to reveal a new product – James Gin Asian Parsnip Navy Strength. This, again, sold out very quickly.

But in this recent DriveTribe video, James has admitted that it’s not making any profit.

While looking around the M5, presenter Mike Fernie asks James: “Could you buy our M5 with the profits of James Gin?”

“No,” James quickly responds. “I haven’t made any money out of James Gin. It is a non-profit exercise. A bit like this pub,” he says, referring to his pub, The Royal Oak.

As we reported in 2020, May bought “half a pub” alongside another investor in the small village of Swallowcliffe in Wiltshire. Thanks to the pandemic, it’s spent more time closed than open, and obviously May is finding it difficult to currently turn a profit.

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: [email protected]

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