WHO IS THE FINES MASTER?
He’s the teams unanimously elected party starter, master of ceremonies, and all round good guy! Given the time honoured responsibility of orchestrating a fines meeting that would be worthy of its exuberant participants! He hands out punishment as readily as he plays the fool. His mission…to give recognition to the moments on field that deserve reward but, more importantly, the off field tales and conquests of his team mates that deserve forfeiture! All seen off in good company!

Fines Master is the culmination between two best mates mutual love of sport and the occasional raucous celebrations that frequently follow. Mike Rhodes and Pat Cilliers have been best mates for 20 years. Both have played professional rugby at a high level around the world and both agree the memories they will treasure the most are not the victories or trophies won but the memories of celebrating and socialising with friends and family, and usually a couple beverages! So when talking about the dreaded post rugby career choices, they came to the conclusion that what would be better suited than channeling their energies into creating a tipple that would perfectly compliment life’s great occasions. Whether celebrating a victory or lamenting a loss, a good G&T always makes the occasion better.

With the help of renowned distiller Sion Edwards they have created a gin that embodies both the spirit and camaraderie of sport, with the energetic celebrations that follow any moment worth drinking too.

Fines Master Gin’s foundation lies with the “holy” trinity of gin. Juniper, Coriander and Angelica, followed by a wonderful blend of orange, lime and grapefruit. This zesty gin taste is rounded of with camomile, liquorice, orris and cassia. This is a fresh citrus twist on a traditional London Dry, just begging for sunshine and tonic! The gin is prepared by loading the still with a grain based alcohol and water, with the still at 50℃ the botanicals are then added and left over night. This process allows for all the oils and flavours from the botanicals to be released and infused into the spirit. With the temperature increased, distillation begins. The head and tail is removed and the heart is taken to produce only the highest quality gin. Once rested to allow the botanical flavours to incorporate together with the spirit, water is used to dilute down to 40%. Fines Master is now ready to be enjoyed in good company!

The unique wrap that covers the bottle has been designed to represent the jersey that rugby players wear. Unwrapping a bottle of Fines Master mimics removing a jersey post game and searching for that perfect G&T to kick off the festivities!

PAT CILLIERS – Co-Founder
Born and raised in South Africa, sport has always been a massive part of my life and in particular Rugby. The big question for all sportsman, is what is life post rugby looking like? I wanted to take all the aspects that make team sports so incredible and enjoyable and continue it into the working world. Knowing that socializing, connecting with different people from around the world is what I enjoy and find intriguing. Fines Master is what’s going to make it happen for us.
MIKE RHODES – Co-Founder
Mike is from Durban, South Africa. Currently plays rugby for Saracens in England where he has found success in winning 2 x European Cups and 2 x Premiership titles. Frank as he is known to his friends is a avid gin drinker who has been one of the main driving forces in the birth of Fines Master.
ROB SMITH – Operations Manager
Rob is definitely the black sheep of the Fines Master family. Unlike his other 2 colleagues he has not played professional sport but has been involved in the professional sporting environment for 7 seasons at Leicester Tigers. This is where Rob met Pat over staff and player BBQ. In his time at Leicester Tigers Rob built a commercial arm of the club which started as just him to a team of 5 by the time he left making it the biggest department of its kind in European Rugby.