Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, it’s impossible to ignore the gin revival that’s taking the UK by storm…
The Spirits Business Magazine had a chat with some of the big names in the modern-day UK gin industry, including Paul Currie, Founder and MD of the distillery, to find out their thoughts on gin.
Paul described the biggest obstacle that gin faces is “competition”, stating “there are now so many brands appearing in so many countries, and not all can succeed. The winners will be those with a strong ‘story’, strong branding and the very best liquid.”
It’s also important to remember that, however exciting flavoured gins can be, the main ingredient in gin must remain as juniper, Paul stating that “gin needs to be gin – and that means it needs juniper to be the key botanical. If any distiller is producing something different, it’s not gin.”
Paul continued “anything not juniper based is not gin. It needs to be clear to consumers what is inside the bottle.”
It’s also worth noting that, whilst gin sales are through the roof in the UK (December sales up 18.3% from last December, according to Martin Wood at IRI), the same heights are not yet being achieved across the world. Paul reminds us that ‘yet’ is the key word here, as he expects the ‘gin craze’ “is only just beginning in Asia, for example – there is plenty of growth yet to come.”
You can read the full interview in this month’s Spirits Business magazine. Don’t forget to also look out for the back page, which features our Master Blender Dhavall Gandhi and his plans for our whisky!
