The House of Commons has awarded Dundee distillery, Verdant Spirits, the contract to be their sole supplier of a House of Commons Gin.
The Scots firm will supply a special edition of their award-winning spirit. Verdant Spirits will not only provide their gin but will also deliver expert training and tastings for the House of Commons team and members.
Voted Scottish Gin of the Year at the inaugural Scottish Gin awards, Verdant Dry Gin, crafted in Dundee’s first distillery for almost 200 years, fought off a shortlist of five from a number of UK national brands including incumbent supplier, Sipsmith.
Verdant won the prestigious tender after scoring top marks in the blind taste test and wowing judges with their presentation at the Houses of Parliament. Their proposal, developed in collaboration with Dundee design agency Avian, put forward an entirely new visual treatment and packaging concept marrying the Verdant Spirits and House of Commons branding.
Bespoke boxed packaging was created replacing Verdant’s original graphics with a specially designed House of Commons treatment, with feedback from the House of Commons stating the judges were ‘blown away by the whole package’.
Andrew Mackenzie, founder and managing director at Verdant, said: ‘We spent two years researching and finessing the perfect dry gin and we firmly believe in our product, but it still felt fantastic to win out in the taste test. To really show our commitment to the process, we didn’t want to simply add a logo or brand to the bottle, we wanted to create a truly co-branded product.’
Scott McCallum, MD of Avian, said: ‘By creating an entirely new label and specialised packaging solely for the House of Commons, we retained the integrity of both the Verdant Spirits brand and the historic House of Commons identity, whilst also creating shelf appeal. This balance of both brands in one product really resonated with the judging panel as they recognised the all-out effort to secure this prestigious opportunity.’
Andrew added: ‘We hope that this exciting new development signals a significant opportunity for the Verdant Spirits brand to be elevated to the next level, and also highlights and encourages the further investment and partnership we are currently seeking.’
This marks the second time the contract has been awarded since Sipsmith were chosen to serve back in 2016.
Verdant Dry Gin is distilled in small batches in a 500-litre pot still, embodying the spirit of its home city, Dundee, with the highest quality ingredients sourced globally reflecting the shipping and trading heritage of the city.
Verdant is available in a number of premium bars and restaurants and stocked in Harvey Nichols, The Kitchin and Montpeliers in Edinburgh, as well as a number of independent retail outlets.
For more information on Verdant Dry gin visit: https://www.verdantspirits.co.uk/pages/about-us
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