A GIN emporium is launching at Saracens Head today, Friday, with more than 100 gins on offer.

Mujdat and Joanna Karatus, who also run The Rams Head in Grappenhall Village and Rope and Anchor in Woolston, have been working on the concept since taking over the Wilderspool Causeway pub in September.

They want the gin emporium to be a celebration of Warrington's connection to the gin industry going back to Thomas Dakin who set up a distillery in Bridge Street in 1761 when he was just 25.

His gin was renamed Greenall's gin when the Dakin and Greenall families decided to collaborate and create G&J Distillers which now makes a fifth of the world's gin in Birchwood.

The craft gin craze has also seen micro distilleries recently open in the town like Three Pugs and Hunters Gin.

Saracens Head also has connections to Greenall's beer because it used to be the brewery's taproom and it is home to Greenall's boardroom.

Mujdat said: "I had a book as present from my mother-in-law and it said '101 gins you must try before you die',

"Everything in that book is behind the bar now."

Mujdat and Joanna are hoping to eventually try all the gins but despite being in the pub trade for 30 years he keeps being introduced to new ones.

The 48-year-old, who started out as a bar man at Statham Lodge in Lymm, added: "There are many I’ve come across over the years and I’ve been introduced to a lot of new ones recently.

"It’s difficult to try all of them but we have tried to particularly get gins from Warrington, Cheshire, Manchester and Liverpool as there are a lot of brands that are unique to our area.

"But we also have gins coming from Spain, France and Holland and as far as America.

"We’ve got Three Pugs and Hunters Gin which are both in Warrington. We have Thomas Dakin Manchester Gin as Thomas Dakin was the master distiller at Greenall’s.

"We have Greenall’s gin as well because the pub’s history goes back to Greenall’s days."

The gin emporium can be found in the back room of the traditional pub.

Mujdat said: "My objective was to create a place where under one roof you can play pool and traditional pub games like darts but also to have something unique in a different part of the pub.

"We’ve got lots of nooks and crannies in the pub so there are four areas across the main bar.

"It’s not an extension. It’s always been there at the pub for other reasons and we’ve now converted that room into one big spacious bar.

"It’s primarily a gin bar but there are some other wines and spirits as well. We’ve got a good selection of rum and whisky and a lot of Prosecco."

So why does Mujdat think gin has had a big comeback?

He added: "In the past the English drinks industry has not been very good at marketing.

"When you go to Scotland they celebrate their whiskey which is sold worldwide, when you go to France they’ve got their famous wines, champagne and cognac.

"And if you go to America they’ve got bourbons and various other things.

"One of the things unique to England is the gin, especially London dry gin, but we haven't had as much variety or as many independent distillers before.

"I think we can now proudly say England is producing world renowned gins. One we’re stocking is Tarquins Seadog which was voted best gin in the world at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

"People’s expectations have changed over the years in line with new trends. They don’t settle for mediocre stuff and demand better or different things in life."