“For I begin with writing the first sentence — and trusting to Almighty God for the second.”
Laurence Sterne

A particular gentleman, to honour his distant relative Leon Kuhajewski, the inventor of the world’s first astronomical watch in 1816, embarked on a quest to create the perfect vodka.

When this aforementioned gentleman set out to create his vodka, he had no idea how significant his choice of bedtime reading would become. ‘The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman’ by 18th-century novelist Laurence Sterne is a tale in which nothing happens; by the third volume Shandy is still not born. To the gentleman’s chagrin the same fate befell the launch of his vodka; three years later the project was exactly where it had been on day one.

In the novel, Shandy’s Papa had a habit of winding his timepiece before fulfilling his conjugal duties, until one fateful day he forgot to do so. That very same night Tristram Shandy was conceived.

Captivated by the book, our gentleman visited the author’s home, Shandy Hall in North Yorkshire, and became enamoured with its deep-seated history and tranquil gardens, where time seemed to stand still.

It is here that he discovered the final missing ingredient for his recipe… slow-ripened windfall apples from the old orchard trees at the garden’s edge. Upon leaving the estate, he spotted a broken clock atop the neighbouring priory building, and Broken Clock Lingering Vodka was born.