In 1689, shortly after the Dutch King William III – better known as William of Orange – was proclaimed King Of England, Ireland and Scotland, he made gin, a traditionally Dutch drink, popular with the British people. At this time, anyone could distil their own alcohol by simply posting a notice in public and waiting a mere ten days. Soon, of course, the volume sold daily exceeded that of beer and ale.

More than 3 centuries later two Dutch lads undertook the same journey as William of Orange, travelling from their Dutch home town to London, a city that remains, after all those years, the world’s gin capital. Fascinated by the royal Dutch-Anglo heritage of this spirit, these two lads decided to trace its history and discovered the original 1689 recipe that ignited the craze.

This intensive search that lasted over 18 months, culminated in the discovery of a secret recipe buried in a dark corner of the Royal British Library’s rare book section. After acquiring the rights of the recipe, they found the perfect partner to help recreate the delicate flavours of the original 350 year old recipe: Herman Jansen, one of Hollands finest distillers, founded in 1777 and based in the Dutch Gin & Genever capital, Schiedam.

The result was Gin 1689 – a gin that fuses Dutch and English culture, produced by one of Holland’s oldest distillers