THE GIN PASSPORT ATLAS - DISTILLERY STORY- PINNED ON THE MAP - EUROPE
GARAGE 22 GIN, Prague, Czech Republic
Where to start? Firstly, a massive thank you to Martin for allowing me to visit his wonderful distillery and monopolise most of his afternoon — even if it did mean making him late for his gin deliveries! What am I like?
Garage22 is the story of Martin Přibík and Ondřej Volák, two friends whose shared love of good drinks eventually turned into something considerably more ambitious than a hobby.
Their story actually began with tonic syrup before they decided to take the rather bigger step of creating their own gin. In 2020, they received permission to distil and Garage22 became Prague's first craft distillery.
The name comes from the original garage — number 22 — where the idea was born back in 2018. These days, the garage has been replaced by an atmospheric industrial space in Holešovice, but the slightly rebellious spirit remains. Everything is produced there, in small batches, from distillation through to bottling.
I was particularly intrigued by their Habanero Gin. I'll admit, I approached it with a little trepidation. Habanero doesn't exactly have a reputation for subtlety, so I was expecting my taste buds to be attacked.
Thankfully, I needn't have worried.
Yes, there's a little warmth, but this isn't about setting your mouth on fire. The habanero is balanced with mango, lemongrass and sriracha, creating something fruity, aromatic and gently spicy, with a long finish. It's much more about flavour than heat.
Then I discovered they also make a smoked version.
Well, that was game over.
The combination of smoke, spice and those tropical notes is ridiculously good and, unsurprisingly, I left the distillery with a few bottles in my bag. Because apparently I have no self-control when confronted with interesting gin.
Garage22's approach is refreshingly straightforward: good ingredients, proper distillation and plenty of experimentation.
Their philosophy is very much about trying things that interest them — habanero, mango, coconut... why not? — while still keeping the gin itself honest.
I can already see these working brilliantly in Martinis and Negronis, but honestly, the Habanero is perfectly happy being sipped over ice too.
"A little garage that grew into something special."
Show me a bottle and
I'll tell you a story.
