Rockland Distillery was founded in Sri Lanka in 1924 by Carl de Silva Wijeyeratne. It was the first distillery in the country and was built to distill Arrack, an alcoholic drink made with fermented coconut flower sap. During World War Two the distillery was asked to produce spirits for the British war effort, and its gin production began. With the trade routes blocked, the recipe used domestic botanicals including Sri Lankan curry leaves, cinnamon and ginger. The distillery is now run by Carl's grandson Amal, who joined the company to rebuild it after the 2004 tsunami. Amal decided to precisely recreate the wartime recipe and bring distillation to Langley Distillery in the UK amidst tightening alcohol production regulations in Sri Lanka.
