Gin is my tonic

Beefeater shot

APRIL 2007

GIN IS MY TONIC

UPFRONT, One to Watch, APRIL 2007, COMMENTS

So the spirit on seemingly everyone’s lips right now is gin, and within that venerable old lady of liquor there is one brand that is definitely one to watch. Beefeater has everything going for it: a rich heritage, a fabulous USP (it’s the only internationally recognised gin to still be distilled in London) and a great flavour profile. And, after years of neglect, Chivas Brothers has now given the brand its bounce back, with creative events and marketing support attracting global attention.

So what’s different with Beefeater these days? First things first, the distillery has been upgraded to make it more trade visitor friendly and in fact is one of the only Gin distilleries that lets the spirit meet its public. In addition to the creation of a Botanicals Room, where guests can get ‘up close and personal’ with the core flavours of the spirit, a well constructed tour and an eclectic bar has additionally been created where new Brand Ambassador Dan Warner is on hand to offer up lovingly crafted libations, all of which take their lead from the classics.

Beefeater has been making the most of its London connections recently, with a series of high profile events. Its “International Gin Symposium”, which was held at Notting Hill’s Electric Cinema, attracted over a hundred of the great and the good of the cocktailing fraternity – with guests not only coming from the UK, but also Holland, Germany, Canada and the United States. They were treated to an intense one-day education bonanza on the genre of gin, which was hosted by Worldwide Cocktail Club, and which counted Anistatia Miller, Jared Brown, Audrey Saunders, Angus Winchester and gin stalwarts Desmond Payne and Geraldine Coates amongst its educators. A whirlwind tour of the capital, on board a beloved RouteMaster bus (natch) completed the event and saw the audience transported to some of the finest venues the big smoke has to offer, including Lonsdale, Volstead and Hawksmoor.

More recently, 14 journalists were treated to a 24-hour London-centric series of events. As well as touring the distillery and taking part in a cocktail masterclass, they drank with the Beefeaters at the Tower of London, travelled down the Thames on a power boat, danced the night away at The Cuckoo Club, drank with the butchers at Smithfield Market and beat the early morning traffic on a horse and carriage ride.

And while Beefeater is schmoozing the press, it’s putting money in their boss’s pockets too with a much needed advertising campaign. The new ‘Forever London’ advertising builds on the brand’s long association with the capital and acts as a visual representation of both Beefeater’s traditional heritage and its place in contemporary London. Featuring London fashion, red London buses, the Houses of Parliament, black cabs, red telephone boxes, and of course Londoners themselves, it gives a real upbeat vibe to the brand. A newly designed bottle also reiterates this connection with ‘Made in London’ embossed on its sides. A stronger shape and bolder colours also give Beefeater more prominence on the shelf.

But while there may be new and exciting developments with both the distillery and the bottle, the key message that Beefeater is sending out is that there are some things that simply shouldn’t change. Master Distiller (and long time Beefeater maestro) Desmond Payne has made sure that what’s in the bottle hasn’t changed one bit and bartenders are taking joy in the old fashioned simplicity of its contents. While new kids on the block may dazzle with exotic finery Beefeater stands heads and shoulders among them when it comes to the classics - with crispness perfect for a Negroni, the silky smoothness to make a perfect dry martini or a Bronx and, as the Gin Symposium showed, it can even hold its own against warmed Guinness and Nutmeg in a Dogs Nose.

From: April 2006 Issue

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