FIRST JOURNEYS - EASTERN EUROPEAN EXPEDITION- PIN 13 OF 17
PETRIOT GREEN GEORGE GIN, Slovenia
A ROAD TRIP WHERE EVERY STOP HAS A STORY
There are places where folklore seems to grow straight out of the landscape. Bela krajina, in south-eastern Slovenia, is one of them. Every spring, a figure covered in greenery appears in villages across the region, marking the arrival of spring, fertility and new life.
His name is Zeleni Jurij — Green George.
The tradition dates back centuries and is celebrated around St George's Day on 24 April. A young man dressed in birch branches and leaves is taken through the village in a procession, with songs and celebrations welcoming spring. The tradition survives today through Jurjevanje, one of Slovenia's oldest folklore festivals.
It is a particularly good piece of folklore to build a gin around because birch doesn't just appear in the Green George story — birch sap (or water) actually goes into the gin. As the gin is classed as a London Dry, this will mean it's part of the distillation process and only pure water would be added afterwards. Birch sap is also a traditional spring drink, collected when the sap begins rising after winter.
Petriot was founded in 2020 by Jurij Petruna, who grew up in Bela krajina before moving to Ljubljana. His background is in IT rather than distilling, but a fascination with gin turned into years of experimenting with botanicals, recipes and distillation. His sister Nina Petruna Babarović is also involved in the family business.
The distillery is based in Črnuče, Ljubljana, while its inspiration comes from different parts of Slovenia. Green George was the first, created as a tribute to Jurij's home region and its landscape, traditions and folklore.
Green George is a 40% London Dry Gin, using juniper from Slovenia's Karst region, alongside birch water, rosehip, chamomile and yarrow. Citrus and spice add another layer, with cardamom and cubeb appearing in the botanical mix.
The recipe took months of experimentation, followed by a period of resting after distillation to allow the spirit and essential oils to settle together. The result is juniper-led but with a distinctly herbal, floral and citrus character.
The thing I like most is that the sense of place isn't being claimed simply because the label says Slovenia. The folklore, the birch and the regional botanicals are all connected.
Green George won Gold at the Gin&Brin festival in 2021, followed by Gold at the 2022 World Gin Awards, where it was also named Slovenia's best London Dry Gin.
Petriot has since expanded into other Slovenian regions, but Green George remains the bottle that started the journey — a gin that takes one of Bela krajina's oldest spring traditions and gives it a rather modern form.
My bottle is from the earlier presentation and is marked 22-11. The Green George branding itself hasn't changed but Petriot has subsequently added specially designed boxes for the bottles.
Petriot's micro-distillery is in Črnuče, Ljubljana. There doesn't appear to be a regular public tour programme, but if you're in Ljubljana and want to see where Green George is made, it would be worth contacting the distillery directly to see whether a visit can be arranged.
A gin from the land of birch, folklore and Green George
"Show me a bottle
and I'll tell you a story."