What do you think of when you hear the name “Brooklyn”? The cradle of all things hip in NYC? The iconic Brooklyn Bridge? Brooklyn Nets basketball? Well now you can add another icon to the list. Brooklyn Gin, and right here in Asia too. Craft urban gin brand Brooklyn Gin has partnered with Nimbility to build their Gin markets across APAC. With a laser focus on Greater China, Australia, Japan and Singapore, Nimbility will be mapping out the route to market to get Brooklyn Gin into the top bars and venues across the region. Look out also for some creative and unique activations and cutting edge cocktails.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Nimbility to take Brooklyn Gin to the next level in APAC,” says Emil Jattne, Founder of Brooklyn Gin. “While we have dabbled in Asia over the years, we have not yet managed to establish a solid and sustainable core of distribution in the region and have only developed a small degree of trade and consumer awareness. Working with Nimbility, who are market building experts in the region, we are preparing to change all that. They will be helping us to find the right partners to import and distribute Brooklyn Gin and building activation and strategy to start driving genuine consumer demand for the product. We’re really excited to get Brooklyn Gin into the hands of passionate gin drinkers across APAC!”

Brooklyn Gin was created by Joe Santos and Emil Jattne who began their careers working in a large liquor company. Having travelled to many bars and sampled many drinks, they recognized that lots of their favorite classic cocktails contained gin. Yet behind the bar, unlike other spirits, there were only a few variations of high quality gin; many of those mass-produced containing dried botanicals and fake flavours. Emil and Joe knew they could do better, wanting to give both the industry bartender and the home bartender a gin that could elevate their cocktail.

Inspired by the entrepreneurial Brooklyn spirit of executing fresh ideas and creating new things through art, music and food, they saw a gap for a fresh new gin. Leaving their corporate jobs they went on a quest to make a gin they would love and hoped others would too! A year and half later and over 50 attempts at making a gin that would reach their high standards, they finally got there.

Time and effort was, and still is, what makes Brooklyn Gin what it is today. Hand cut fresh citrus – Eureka Lemon, Persian Lime, Navel Orange and Clementine – are all key botanicals that give Brooklyn Gin it’s fresh vibrant citrus notes that cannot be obtained through citrus concentrates, artificial flavours or dried citrus peels. There are no shortcuts!

Hand-crushed juniper berries are Brooklyn Gin’s number one botanical, twice as much is used compared to the other botanicals. Most gins rely on whole dried juniper berries, which release harsh, piney flavours. At Brooklyn Gin the fresh berries are crushed by hand to release their sweeter and spicier notes for a more flavourful gin. Indian coriander is used to enhance the citrus aromatics. Brazilian cocoa nibs to balance the acidity of the citrus. Bulgarian angelica root (wild celery) and Moroccan orris root (root of the Iris flower) to offer a backbone. Finally French lavender to contribute a crisp floral note.

The steeped botanicals release their flavours overnight and are then carefully distilled over the course of six hours in a Carl Copper Pot Still. These Copper Pot stills were originally created to make brandy to draw the flavours out of fruits. This Copper Pot Still allows for a small batch (600 bottles) of Brooklyn Gin to be made at a time as it focuses on slowly drawing out all the fresh flavors of the citrus and botanicals and to remove bitter notes, resulting in a smoother gin with greater complexity. Refusing to use the industrial distilling process, which creates a bland, stale gin, Brooklyn insists on taking more time and craftsmanship using this method to enhance flavour and taste.

The gin is then cut to 80 proof and chill-filtered preventing cloudy gin and allowing the crystal clear Brooklyn Gin to sparkle and then bottled before distribution. Using the best ingredients and the best process, despite its inefficiencies and expense, is the secret to why Brooklyn gin is the freshest tasting, premium quality gin.

Loved by the bartending community across the USA and the best bars in the world Brooklyn Gin is available in 40 States and 30 countries worldwide. The running themes of “freshness” and “craftsmanship” run through everything they do and have led them to win numerous top awards, including Double Gold at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition and rated “Excellent, Highly Recommended” at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge. Many of the most famous cocktail joints in New York pour Brooklyn Gin in their classic cocktails.

The timeless nature of Brooklyn Gin, both in terms of flavour and design, is celebrated through the gin itself and its iconic, art deco bottle which is as contemporary today as it was 11 years ago when it launched. Styled on the old New York apothecary bottles and brought into the modern era through the light blue glass with copper components on the front stamp and cap, a nod to the craft process they undertake using Copper Pot Stills, Brooklyn Gin’s bottle was proudly created in Brooklyn by Brooklyn designers. The copper caps contain the patterns of Brooklyn’s iconic manhole covers that line the borough’s streets and can, uniquely, be used by bartenders to stamp Brooklyn’s mark into ice cubes. Brooklyn Gin perfectly encapsulates the freshness and entrepreneurial spirit of Brooklyn clearly demonstrating why Brooklyn is considered the culture hub of New York and thus a culture hub of the world.

Ian Ford, co-founder and CEO of Nimbility, is particularly excited about Brooklyn Gin. “I grew up in New York City, ok yes on the other side of the Brooklyn bridge, in Manhattan. It’s an honour for me to offer a NYC native brand and such a gorgeous craft Gin to all of our friends and customers out here in Asia. Gin is a crowded spirits category these days, a bit like Grand Central Station, but Brooklyn Gin truly stands head and shoulders above the rest. We’re looking forward to sipping on delicious Brooklyn Gin cocktails all across Asia in the months and years to come.”

2021 marks an incredibly special year for the team at Brooklyn Gin as after years of hard work and with the ever-increasing demand for Brooklyn Gin, the dream of building their very own distillery in Brooklyn is coming true! They are planting their roots in the community that inspired an entrepreneurial leap of faith to make fresh-tasting gin with strong guiding principles and with a process that doesn’t cut corners.

For more information on Brooklyn Gin in APAC please contact info@nimbilityasia.com

Brooklyn Gin, a NYC native brand, comes to Asia with Nimbility