Between 1839 and the 1890s, several hundred sailing ships brought tens of thousands of immigrants from Europe to New Zealand, the longest sea journey in the world. Conditions were harsh, and books, quoits, gambling and fighting were the ways passengers passed time on the gruelling three month journey. London Dry gin of course would have helped relieve the boredom and start some of the fights. We’re hoping our nautically-inspired London Dry Seafarer gin will have a more positive influence on your social occasions. Seafarer Gin is like a stroll along the shoreline; you can feel the fresh salty spray from Angelica with its celery notes, some spicy cinnamon and we’ve added a hint of foraged kelp from the south coast to provide an authentic essence of the high seas. Sip it at a beach picnic, of course.

Travel by stagecoach over the treacherous Remutaka Range to Wellington was possible through an all-day journey by the Hastwell Cobb and Co mail and passenger service between 1866 and 1880; the stables, now Greytown’s Cobblestones Museum, housed up to 70 horses overnight while the coachmen enjoyed the hospitality of the Rising Sun Hotel once sited across the road. Stagecoach Gin celebrates the skill and bravery of the coachmen with a distinctive, earthy and robust flavour profile. When you drive across the wild and windy Remutakas today, look down into the valley floor to see the Horopito and Manuka that provide Stagecoach gin with its exciting peppery and nutty notes. We’ve balanced that with sweet character from Manuka Greytown Honey.

Greytown’s Woodside Railway Station opened on 14 May 1880, operated by the Public Works Department, initially with two trains between Greytown and Wellington each day. The original station master welcoming passengers onto the platform, Robert Hodgson was the great grandfather of GDC director Adam Blackwell. Stationmaster Gin pays tribute to the courageous travellers who took the nail-biting three hour journey up and over the Remutakas to arrive at Woodside, before transferring to Greytown on the connection track. Discovering the rich, fertile soils that were formed by the river silt, a handful of Greytown’s early settlers brought apple seeds with them from England and Europe and planted the areas surrounding the new township with it’s first orchards. We’ve taken apples from some of those remaining orchards, together with walnuts and Cassia to create a deliciously delicate London Dry style gin that has earned our Martini Connoisseur status.