Glendalough Distillery launched a refreshed bottle design for its Glendalough Wild Botanical and Wild Rose Gins, evoking a sense of place that transports you to the distillery’s bountiful home in County Wicklow, located in the East of Ireland, it says.
Glendalough Irish Gin is progressively crafted with fresh, wild botanicals from the Wicklow Mountains that are hand-picked daily by Ireland’s only full-time forager, Geraldine Kavanagh. The reimagined packaging of these gins envelops the essence of the product and lets the premium liquid shine. Created in homage to the lush valley of Glendalough in County Wicklow, otherwise known as “the Garden of Ireland,” the new bottle has been crafted to look as though it has been picked straight from the forest floor. Located in the heart of Ireland’s Ancient East, Glendalough also is home to one of the most important monastic sites in Ireland, founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century, additionally reflected in the new bottle design, the company says.
When it comes to the distillation process, time is of the essence. Every day, within hours of foraging, Geraldine’s harvest is handed to Glendalough Distillery’s Head Distiller, Ciarán “Rowdy” Rooney who then uses small-batch slow-distillation methods to tease out the delicate flavors.
“The inspiration for the flavor of our gin comes from the scents, sights and tastes of Glendalough and it's my job to put that essence into the bottle,” said Glendalough Distillery Forager Geraldine Kavanagh in a statement. “Since we grow the ingredients in the wild, we take a lot of care to ensure that we don't adversely affect the areas we forage from. To see the story of Glendalough and our process come to life in the new bottle and bring our Irish gin to the world stage is really special. This new bottle is a reminder of the significance of preserving the beautiful Irish landscape.”
Glendalough Wild Rose Gin, not to be mistaken for pink gin, was created by Rowdy to honor his mother, Rose.
“I developed Glendalough Wild Rose Gin to honor my mom whose name was Rose,” Rowdy said. “Mom loved her garden and to this day every single batch of Glendalough Wild Rose Gin has roses from my mother’s garden in it, which is now lovingly tended to by my dear sister, Bonnie.”
The wild botanicals foraged by Kavanagh are embossed on the foot and surrounding area of the bottle to reflect ingredients that bloom high and low in Wicklow. Botanicals such as sorrel, elderflower and fir create the distinct notes of Glendalough Wild Botanical Irish Gin. There also are nods to Glendalough’s ancient past such as the Monastery Archway, Seven Churches and Deer Stone, further evoking the profound sense of place of Glendalough. Kavanagh’s care for the land is preserved on the new bottle design with an embossed woven pattern sitting at the base, representing the handwoven basket with which she forages daily, the company says.
Glendalough Irish Gins present at 41% ABV and the new bottles are available now at select retailers nationwide for a suggested retail price $32.99 for 750-ml bottle.
