A word from Jo
We are very excited to be releasing Autumn 2024!
After the complexity of the Summer ’24, we all felt that we needed a clean, refined gin that speaks to the freshness of autumn evenings.
This time, we looked close to home – very close!
The distillery gardens are starting to flourish and this year saw a bumper crop of Mānuka flowers and cones (and some very happy bees), and Chilean guavas. We made a truly lovely gin back in 2017 that had Chilean Guavas, so this was a great opportunity to revisit an ingredient that I love. In fact, the Cloudy Autumn Gin from 2017 was a pivotal moment for me. We had been struggling to really build a signature gin that was all that I was looking for, and I was starting to lose confidence. By stepping away from serious and choosing to have fun with a short term ingredient, I finally had a break through, making a gin that made me cry – from happiness 😊.
This time, we went with clean and green with the Manuka cones bringing an freshness that makes me think of the very best white hotel sheets and the Chilean Guava introducing a slight high floral note that compliments that bright green cleanliness perfectly.
So here’s cheers to cooler evenings and warm blue sky days.
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Congratulations to our Winning Artist – Lu Van Rooyen
My name is Lu, and I am a part-time graphic designer based in Auckland. I spend all of my free time with my wonderful partner, Jarrod, and our sweetest little cat, Maple. I also have a coffee mug permanently glued to my hand.
When I read the brief for this year’s blank canvas challenge, I tried to imagine what feeling ‘in tune’ really meant to me. I closed my eyes, and it felt like connection. Creation. Being grounded. But it also felt incredibly vast and universal, like the kind of vastness that just takes your breath away. And that’s where the inspiration for this design was born — being in tune and grounded with everything around you. How standing barefoot in the grass or the hearing the wind whistling through the trees feels exactly the same as being able to feel the stars in between your fingers or the moon beneath your toes. Feeling everything, everywhere, all at once.
Thank you Jo and Dave for this wonderful opportunity to share my art, I hope you all love looking at it the same way I loved making it.
