12 Oct 2020
Once upon a time in a city once renowned for the welcome it offers to Strangers, while the world around was in the grip of a global pandemic and everyday lives were thrown into chaos, two ambitious chaps hit upon the recipe for a new premium spirits brand. Embracing the real-world and the strange, and taking inspiration from that most otherworldly of sources Lewis Carroll and his eponymous heroine Alice among others, this month sees the first of these new products launch with a range of three extraordinary gins.
Oh, frabjous day!
The city is Norwich, and the brand is Gyre & Gimble. Three spanking new gins will be landing on shelves in bars and wholesalers around the UK as well as in the online shop at gyreandgimble.co.uk all of which are distilled in Norwich.
Inspired by the imagination of Lewis Carroll, and his characters including Alice who found herself in a world that was 'curiouser and curiouser', each gin has its own original identity, drawn from a balance of traditional juniper and delicate botanicals with an unexpectedly delicious twist.
The strong visual identity incorporates a twisting label and bold colourways that run through the label and wax seal, making the bottle both recognisable and unusual with great on-shelf appeal. Each gin has an illustration that joins two disparate elements linked to the drink to create one illogical object.
Callooh Callay - a truly Coastal gin, infused with seawater from the North Sea off the Norfolk coast along with foraged samphire and lavender. The visual identity draws on The Walrus and the Carpenter with an intricate hand-drawn illustration of a walrus merging into a carpenter's measuring tape. 15% of all proceeds will go to the Friends of Horsey Seals, a registered charity operating on the Norfolk Coast where thousands of seals come ashore every year to pup.
Queen of Hearts - even the crossest of Queens couldn't fail to be charmed by the richness of this cherry gin. With its velvety mouthfeel and deep luxuriant colour, the natural tartness of cherries is offset by an additional sweet kick from the inclusion of custard apples at the earliest stages. Illustrated with a luscious bunch of cherries that blossom into a crown; never has a gin been more royally suited to a celebratory tipple.
Nohow - a twist on the classic London Dry, this gin includes a double dose of juniper and the duality of its ingredients is reflected in its hero illustration - a spoon of juniper berries that blends into Tweedledum and Tweedledee's rattle. The twins are renowned for using the word 'nohow' as a verbal tic at the end of their sentences. Meanwhile the double whammy of juniper in the original distillation and additional juniper distillate makes this not so much juniper-forward as juniper-smack-in-the-face (like a petulant Tweedledum after his brother's stolen his rattle!).
Later this year, more spirits will be joining the range along with further plans for new releases early next year. In the meantime, it's all about the gin, still.*
-ENDS-
Notes to editors
* pun intended.
High res imagery available here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/izwtbngiuy2k8na/AABPwmsN_Ix0RbO0k0EfncAAa?dl=0
Media contacts - White Tiger PR
laura.marfellwilliams@whitetigerpr.com / 07769 572 318
About Gyre & Gimble
Born out of the strange new world 2020 has become, Gyre & Gimble is a new premium spirits brand that embraces oddity and offers a distinctive collection of small-batch gins, rums and whisky. Headed up by Craig Allison and Rory Smith, a pair of dynamic young entrepreneurs with solid distilling and brewing experience, Gyre & Gimble's provenance is authentic and original, bringing innovation and energy to the UK artisan spirits market.
Gins are created from scratch by Head Distiller Rory at the home of Gyre & Gimble, next door to Norwich's 14th century Strangers Hall (yes really!) and rigorously taste-tested by the discerning clientele of the Gyre & Gimble bar upstairs. Gin making lessons from the in-house experts are available on site.
Products retail through e-commerce, on- and off-trade, RRP (70cl bottle) £35.
