FIRST JOURNEYS - EUROPEAN EXPEDITION- PIN 24 OF 40
WIEN GIN - Vienna, Austria
A ROAD TRIP WHERE EVERY STOP HAS A STORY
Today's stop is the Austrian capital of Vienna. If you can manage to prise yourself away from one of its opulent coffee houses, you'll find a city overflowing with grand palaces, museums and elegant architecture. Wander its streets for long enough and you'll soon come across the unmistakable work of Gustav Klimt, one of the leading artists of the Vienna Secession and one of Austria's greatest cultural icons.
Klimt began his career as an accomplished architectural painter, creating decorative commissions for theatres and public buildings. However, his increasingly bold and sensual style proved too radical for many of his contemporaries.
Following the public outrage surrounding his University of Vienna paintings, he turned his back on state commissions and devoted himself to painting on his own terms.
He was also something of an eccentric. He rarely wore conventional clothes while working, preferring to swan about his studio in a loose blue smock or kaftan with sandals—or sometimes barefoot. He never married but is believed to have fathered at least fourteen children through numerous affairs.
His fascination with the female form is reflected throughout his work, which often blurred the line between portraiture and sensuality.
One of his best-known paintings, The Girlfriends (Die Freundinnen), also known as The Lesbians, perfectly captures that intimacy. Sadly, like many of Klimt's later works, it was destroyed in 1945 when retreating Nazi forces set fire to Immendorf Castle, where a large collection of his paintings had been stored.
Fortunately, photographs survive, allowing us to appreciate these lost masterpieces today.
Klimt's legacy lives on in another rather unexpected form. The Viennese Kesselbrüder have created Klimt Vienna Gin, whose elegant Art Nouveau styling celebrates both the city and its most famous artist. The golden hue of the spirit references Klimt's celebrated Golden Phase, while limited and special editions have reproduced works such as The Girlfriends (Die Freundinnen) on the bottle and presentation box, transforming the packaging into a miniature art gallery.
The botanical selection is equally thoughtful. Alongside classic juniper are herbs and flowers long associated in European folklore with romance and desire, including lavender, lady's mantle and bishop's hat.
Whether or not they truly possess such qualities is open to debate, but together they create a gin that is delicately floral, softly spiced and wonderfully elegant, with juniper leading into sweet citrus and a lingering, clean finish.
Gold, glamour and a gin inspired by Vienna's most celebrated artist.
Today's serve: I've made a Gin Cosmopolitan, swapping the vodka for Klimt Vienna Gin. It seemed the perfect choice for a gin inspired by an artist whose work celebrated beauty, passion and just a little bit of decadence.
"Show me a bottle and I’ll tell you a story."