We don’t make pretentious gin

Most of my career has been in advertising and while I love a great brand with an excellent story, I can usually smell a rat when I see a fancy new gin label, an impressive photography budget and an overengineered tagline written by a grumpy copy writer. Gin isn’t a pretentious drink. It’s alcohol plus botanicals, distilled twice (in our case), diluted and packaged. It doesn’t need ageing and, while it’s easy to muck it up, it’s really just a simple product that needs some balance and care. So, because my wife Millie and I love a great martini, and there was noone in Greytown making gin, I formed the Greytown Distilling Company, hired the best local gin-makers and business managers in the Wairarapa, and produced these delicious gins as our first release. My talented team designed the stainless steel flasks they come in and I’m the grumpy copy writer who shaped the story of what our gins stand for. Sure, there’s been some passion and sweat put into our gins, but that’s mainly from lifting hundreds of cartons to send off to the customers who can’t get enough of it.

So, even though some people think Greytown itself is a bit fancy, there is nothing pretentious about our gins. They’re all great with Fever Tree Tonics and they make excellent cocktails, especially martinis. We reckon they’re right up there with the best gins we’ve ever had. But we would say that. You should probably taste them for yourself.

GDC Tasting Shed open inside Blackwell and Sons, 110 Main Street, Greytown or buy online at www.greytowngin.com