Theodore Pictish Gin, 700 ml

Product Information

Hogarth, on his own admission, wished to draw attention to various social and moral issues in society. He would have had nothing to gain and much to lose by misrepresentation of facts with regard to these issues. Although his interpretations of the facts might differ from that of other witnesses, they had to be seen to be realistic. By co-ordinating his graphic images with those images provided by his literary contemporaries and in medical writings of the time, it can be seen that they represent a realistic scenario with regard to the prevailing medical scene and to some of the opinions expressed at the time. Hogarth offers a well-informed layman's view of the world of medicine as it impinged on the society that he portrayed. Alcohol abuse is just one example. Theodore has been created with guidance from perfume designer,BarnabéFillion, and is presented in a beautiful bespoke bottle and box, which features artwork of the Picts and the 16 botanicals within the gin commissioned from illustrator Carlotta Saracco.

The gin takes its name from Theodore de Bry, a 16th century engraver who brought the Picts to life through his art. While he had never met a Pict, his representations powerfully captured their intrepid identity.

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The Picts are history wrapped in legend, the truth of their civilisation shaded by rumour and lore. Little is known about this race of Scotsmen, who held off the Roman legions and left us nothing but intricately carved metal and stone, including the famous Wolf of Ardross. There’s a crisp, fresh top note bursting with zingy citrus (pomelo and veitver) and freshly pulled pine needles, creating a scent that somehow combines a soft grassy hit, but with real presence. It’s not ephemeral, nor fleeting - but a deliberate hit of light, delicate top notes that invite you in. Initially, gin wasn’t on the radar for Barth. Born in Bordeaux, he worked for years with historic properties, overseeing their refurbishment and repurposing. He was attracted to the world of spirits first because of a chance meeting with a whisky man: Andrew Rankin, a master blender from Scotland.

Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse. Enquire from the several hospitals in the City, whether any increase of patients and of what sort, are daily brought under their care? They will declare, increasing multitudes of dropsical and consumptive people arising from the effects of spirituous liquors. 4

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A pamphlet entitled A Dissertation on Mr. Hogarth's Six Prints lately Publish'd contributed to contemporary comment on the subject. 6 This pamphlet was inscribed to the 'Lord Mayor, City of London and Worshipful Court of Aldermen' (1751) and contained a 'Genuine Narrative of the horrible Deeds perpetrated by the fiery Dragon, GIN...' In the Dissertation, the Bishop of Worcester asks, As Barth began studying the Picts, he realised that he would never be able to discover the truth of their lived experience. He loved them all the more for it, and decided that they would provide the basis for his gin: bold, mysterious, adventurous, brave. Theodore Gin is presented in a beautiful bespoke bottle and box, which features the artwork of the Picts and the 16 botanicals that were commissioned from illustrator Carlotta Saracco.

There’s talk of new ideas in the pipeline too, but it seems like Greenwood know what they are doing, pursuing steady growth via other categories before doing anything too crazy in gin. It’s a reassuring thing to listen to talk from a new team focused on doing something unique and doing it right, not machine gunning a million things out into the world until something hits the mark. They’ll certainly need that focus now that they set a very high benchmark for themselves too. Their magnificent body-paint and talent as craftsmen may seem at odds with their alleged fierce nature, but we appreciate this inherent duality. Theodore pays tribute to this dualism with a bold and characterful gin that embodies the Pictish spirit and it is for anyone who is looking to whet a curious appetite.’ Mentored by Christine Nagel – the nose at Hermès – Barnabé has brought a contemporary, Pictish approach to the distilling process. Inspired by Roman writings, de Bry had depicted the Picts as powerful hunters adorned in ornate body paint. His images are striking and terrifying and elaborate and beautiful – a balanced and fascinating depiction somewhere between the demonization of the Romans and the heroic depiction the Picts themselves would have fancied. In other words, somewhere near the truth. Everything seemed to be fitting into place. But, with years to wait before they could release their first whisky, Barth and Andrew were too inspired by Ardross to sit on their heels. They had to pour this place – this brilliant wilderness, with its mystery and allure – into a bottle somehow.

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Barth toyed with the idea of naming his gin after a Pictish king, or one of the four Pictish kingdoms that had banded together to form a society in the Scottish Highlands. None of it felt right. The resulting gin is incredibly complex and multi-faceted. Like the Picts that inspired it, Theodore Pictish Gin is different things to different people – or even moment to moment. This was an engraved plate (Fig 3) of a street in St Giles's, London with a coffin on which lies a glass, noggin (a small mug or wooden cup which could hold a dram of alcoholic liquor of about a gill or quarter of a pint measure) and a key, being borne to a burial ground. It is followed by a poorly clad 'Loddy' described below as a 'Beggar well known about St Giles's, Seven Dials etc.', and a procession of publicans. Verses underneath include the lines:

An Act for laying a duty upon the Retailers of Spirituous Liquors, and for licensing the Retailers thereof to be enacted after 29, September, 1736. Their origins, and even their name – Picts, or ‘painted people’ – are a mystery. Perhaps they were tattooed or wore body paint. Perhaps it was a Roman exaggeration, designed to paint a portrait of a barbarian hoard too bloodthirsty to bend the knee to the Empire. Mystery & Inspiration, Bottled Theodore Pictish Gin aims to bring the two worlds a step closer together, with founder Barthelemy Brosseau recruiting a perfume designer and two master distillers to help him create a Gin that flirts around the edges of the past, telling the story of the Pictish people and the man who chiselled them into the history books, Theodore De Bry.Henry Fielding, a friend of Hogarth's, who became a lawyer and a Westminster magistrate in addition to pursuing his career as a dramatist and author, wrote a tract in 1751 entitled Enquiry into the Causes of the late Increase of Robbers etc. with some proposals for remedying this growing evil. 5 In the second section of this he drew attention to the evils associated with the consumption of gin, 'This odious Vice (indeed the Parent of all others) first introduced by the Danes.' He continued: As the Subjects of those Prints are calculated to reform some reigning Vices peculiar to the lower Class of People.