Brand director for gins, Paco Recuero, told Drinks International that the new look gin had been launched in Spain late last year and has also been introduced into Australia. It was now being rolled out to the US, followed by Austria, Denmark, Norway, Greece and Japan. The UK will get the new Plymouth next year.
With Beefeater 24 priced at around €24, the 41.2% abv Plymouth is being positioned at €30. Plymouth Navy Strength (57%) and Plymouth Sloe gin (26%) will have new packaging as well.
Plymouth gin is protected by a European Union ‘protected geographical indication’ so Plymouth gin can only be made in the Devonian town in south-west England. Also, it is it made in small batches using an old Victorian still.
The gin uses seven botanticals, the main ingredient, after juniper, being sweet orange peel. Beefeater uses bitter orange peel.
Chivas, the whisky and premium gin division of Pernod Ricard, felt that with the brand’s history and the PGI, it was undervalued. Hence the re-positioning.
In a statement, Chivas said: “The new rounded bottle shape and antique style pay tribute to the unique heritage of Plymouth Gin, while the oval label sees a return to an earlier example of the packaging, enriched with copper to reflect Plymouth’s artisanal credentials. A copper cap also mirrors the single copper pot still that has been used in production since Victorian times.
“The bottle honours the brand’s provenance, as it has been distilled on the same site since 1793 at The Black Friar’s Distillery in Plymouth - the oldest working distillery in England. Built in 1431, the distillery was originally a monastery for the Black Friar monks and most prominently remembered as the location where the Pilgrim Fathers stayed the night before they set sail on the Mayflower Ship for their voyage to the New World in 1620. An image of the Mayflower on the label and a Black Friar icon embossed into the flint glass underlines the gin’s intrinsic link to Plymouth.”
The new look was created by Design Bridge.
