The views in this review are our own opinions and have not been influenced by anyone at Huckleberry Gin.
Last month at the Spirit Show London, Mr Bandit caught up with Jens Lauckner, one of the co-founders Huckleberry Gin. He was in London on a quest to find a UK distributor for their Munich based gin brand.
So, Jens, who's behind Huckleberry Gin and how did you all meet?
Well, I set the business up earlier this year with my good friend Max. We both created the idea and developed the brand together, along with the distiller who’s responsible for the recipe, distillation and quality. We’ve known each other for a few years now from another business and we had been thinking about the idea of developing own drinks brand for some time.
What did you guys do before getting involved in the drinks industry?
Actually, all of us worked in the drink industry before Huckleberry Gin, but in beverage delivery which went out to domestic homes and offices.
What made you create Huckleberry Gin?
We liked thought of having our own spirits brand as we were dealing with brands from other companies on a day-to-day basis, and we thought “why are we only working with other brands, why shouldn’t we make something of our own?!”
Huckleberry Gin has an amazing aroma as soon as you take off the lid. Tell us about the ingredients and some of the botanicals chosen in the recipe?
Our gin is triple-distilled with much love and patience using 22 carefully selected botanicals. Besides fresh huckleberries (blueberries in the UK) and juniper, we add angelica roots, coriander seeds, ginger roots, a little cinnamon and a hint of lavender for the gin typical taste. To make the gin a little fruitier, we added lemon peel, elderberry, hops flowers, peppermint and raspberries. The huckleberries are added during last distilling step to create a distinctive but natural and smooth taste.
And how did you come up with the name for the brand?
The name came during a crazy, creative night with a lot of gin and tonics!
We think all great decisions include a gin and tonic. Tell us about the Label?
We wanted to do something different from other brands and put “friendship” in the centre of our focus. We liked the thought of having two guys on the cover – vicarious for “friendship” and them being designed in a Victorian style design. That’s also why we came up with the traditional style bottle to fit this age.
So, is that Jens and Max on the Label?
No, these two friends are imaginary people. As we look at the bottle every day, we didn’t want to look at ourselves so often. But these two friends are a placeholder for friends in general, and the two of us.
So, you've done a lot over the past year, what are your plans for the future?
We are looking for a local partner in the UK that fits our brand and who could help us develop the brand further, so that everybody out there will be able to have a bottle to celebrate friendship with their friends and us! ;-)
And lastly, where can we buy it in the UK?
It’s now available at www.urban-drinks.co.uk
Since meeting up with Jens, Huckleberry Gin has gone on to pick up four awards at The International Craft Spirits Excellence Awards
Bronze Medal
Signature Gin - Gin that have a very distinct and prominent scent and taste
Discovery 2018 - The most surprising discovery of the year.
Superior Bottle Design
