FIRST JOURNEYS - EUROPEAN EXPEDITION- PIN 29 OF 40
KNUT HANSEN GIN - Hamburg, Germany
A ROAD TRIP WHERE EVERY STOP HAS A STORY
This tour has certainly turned into a bit of an adventure, so it's rather fitting that today's stop is in Hamburg to visit the Hamburg Distilling Company, home of KNUT HANSEN Dry Gin.
The first thing you'll notice is the striking stoneware bottle with its unmistakable piercing blue eyes.
Naturally, I wanted to know who Knut Hansen actually was. The answer is... probably nobody.
The striking stoneware bottle features a legendary sailor whose story has become part of the brand's identity. Whether he was a real seafarer or simply a character created to embody the spirit of adventure is left deliberately ambiguous. What matters is what he represents – freedom, individuality and the courage to set sail for somewhere new. Sometimes a good story is just as powerful as a real one.
The gin itself remains firmly rooted in northern Germany. It contains 14 botanicals, many sourced close to Hamburg, including juniper from the Lüneburg Heath, apples from the Altes Land—Europe's largest contiguous fruit-growing region—and home-grown basil and cucumbers.
The result is a fresh, modern gin with plenty of citrus and herbaceous notes while still allowing the juniper to shine through.
One aspect of the brand that fascinated me is that it has, at times, been produced in two different hemispheres.
Alongside production in Germany, KNUT HANSEN collaborated with Hope Distillery in Cape Town to distil a South African edition for that market. Hope Distillery holds its own place in South African gin history, being the first licensed craft distillery in Cape Town and producing both its own award-winning spirits and a number of well-known South African brands.
Hamburg itself has always been a city shaped by exploration. As one of Europe's largest ports and a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, merchants and sailors departed from here for centuries, bringing back spices, citrus and exotic goods from around the world. It feels entirely appropriate that a gin inspired by adventure should call this city home.
One final little curiosity. Hamburg is known as the
"Gateway to the World", thanks to its enormous port, and it's fitting that a gin celebrating adventure should come from a city whose fortunes were built on voyages of discovery. For centuries, ships returned carrying spices, citrus fruits and botanicals from every corner of the globe—many of the very flavours we now take for granted in a glass of gin.
Not every legend needs to be real to inspire an adventure.
The serve:
My cocktail takes its inspiration from the gin's local botanicals. I juiced organic apples from my neighbour's garden and mixed them with KNUT HANSEN, fresh lemon juice and homemade ginger syrup over plenty of ice, before finishing with basil, mint and a piece of stem ginger.
Crisp, refreshing and exactly the sort of drink I'd imagine enjoying after returning from a long voyage.
"Show me a bottle and I’ll tell you a story."