Foster's Launches Brand-New Gin

Foster's Launches Brand-New Gin With Old World Heritage

AUCKLAND -- Wilson’s Empire Gin – an entirely new spirit made in New Zealand to the exacting standards of the ‘London Dry’ style – was launched today by Foster’s International (NZ) Limited.

Wilson’s Empire Gin draws on the reputation built over 150 years of distilling and brewing by Wilson’s Distillers.

“That proud heritage is now being infused into every drop of Wilson’s Empire Gin,” says Andrew Bonner, Foster’s International (NZ) Vice President.

“Gin is more popular with New Zealanders than any other spirit. We saw there was a gap in the market for a fine quality, good value, London Dry gin produced by a local company whose reputation for quality was unquestioned.”

The London Dry style of Wilson’s Empire Gin dates from the second half of the 19th century when London distillers began producing a lighter, dryer style of gin than the heavily flavoured Dutch-style gins popular during the previous three hundred years. The name ‘gin’ derives from the Dutch word ‘genever’ meaning ‘juniper’, one of the principal botanical flavourings of quality gins to this day.

Wilson’s gin is called ‘Empire’ to recall the days of the mighty British Empire when quinine had to be taken regularly in tropical climes to counteract the effects of malaria. Taken in the form of ‘Indian Quinine Water’ – also known as ‘Tonic Water’ – the taste of this bitter medicine benefited greatly from the addition of London Dry gin and the great partnership of gin and tonic became firmly established.

Even the Art Deco label of Wilson’s Empire Gin is evocative, recalling the decadent heydays between the wars of the 1920s and 1930s when the bulk of gin-based cocktails were invented.

Wilson’s Empire Gin joins Foster’s International (NZ) Limited’s already impressive New Zealand spirit portfolio that includes Wilson’s Whisky, 100 Pipers Scotch, Black Douglas Scotch, Captain Morgan Rum, Myers’s Rum, Bounty Rum, Cougar Bourbon, Jacques Cardin Brandy, Karloff Vodka, Coyote Tequila, and Continental Liqueurs.

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