Travelling like the Greeks and the Romans before us, we were absolutely enchanted by the beauty of Issa – Vis island, with it’s green heart of vineyards, lemon trees and the scents of the aromatic wild herbs. Vis island, the oldest settlement in Croatia opened up to us; just like releasing the content of the liquid and history from the Greeks that had been stored in their amphoras 2400 years ago.
Travelling like the Greeks and the Romans before us, we were absolutely enchanted by the beauty of Issa – Vis island, with it’s green heart of vineyards, lemon trees and the scents of the aromatic wild herbs. Vis island, the oldest settlement in Croatia opened up to us; just like releasing the content of the liquid and history from the Greeks that had been stored in their amphoras 2400 years ago.
HUM 587
Our botanical Gin is distilled using a carefully selected recipe of 13 Croatian botanicals most of which are hand picked from the slopes of Mt Hum (587m), the Islands highest point. The inside of the label reflects the colours of the sea surrounding Vis and the fields in the centre of the Island.
The smell reflects the aroma of the Island especially in the cool early hours of the morning. Our botanical Gin has an initial full herbal taste followed by an after taste of the famous lemons that Vis is well known for.
HUM 587
Artemis Gin is slowly distilled using 11 delicate Croatian botanicals most of which are hand picked on Vis.
The chosen botanicals give a floral smell and taste to the Gin that one associates with the warm summer evenings on the Island. The inside of the label represents the Greek goddess Artemis. A bronze head of Artemis from the Issa times was found on the Island.
Our botanical Gin is distilled using a carefully selected recipe of 13 Croatian botanicals most of which are hand picked from the slopes of Mt Hum (587m), the Islands highest point. The inside of the label reflects the colours of the sea surrounding Vis and the fields in the centre of the Island.
The smell reflects the aroma of the Island especially in the cool early hours of the morning. Our botanical Gin has an initial full herbal taste followed by an after taste of the famous lemons that Vis is well known for.
Artemis Gin is slowly distilled using 11 delicate Croatian botanicals most of which are hand picked on Vis.
The chosen botanicals give a floral smell and taste to the Gin that one associates with the warm summer evenings on the Island. The inside of the label represents the Greek goddess Artemis. A bronze head of Artemis from the Issa times was found on the Island.
To know what botanicals to put into the gin from Vis – the magic of nature, we needed to mix in all the knowledge from the women of the island; Anka Tomic and Beljamina Zitko when the receipe of HUM 587 took form. They invited us into their homes which resembled an ancient apothecary, in jars and bottles they kept dried botanicals all found in the wild nature of Vis, to be used in tinctures and also making their own botanical brandy known as Rakija. With their knowledge about the magic of nature; flowers, roots, peels and herbs we started picking botanicals with their assistance. With rose petals in her face and hands covered in thorns Ankas has filled up our distillery with wild Mandarin and Bergamot leaves for us to distil into our gin.
The history of Vis starts with the Greek’s who founded Vis, and named it Issa.You have to travel long back in your time capsule; all the way back to 4th century BC where the Greeks formed the most powerful Greek colony in the Adriatic sea with its own money, laws and strict controls on urban development on Issa. With them they brought the sage, the ancient Greeks used sage as a body and mind toner and later on, for the Romans as a sacred herb. In Croatia, the Greek sage (Salvia Fruticosa Mill) is only found on the island of Vis, and as part of history and the origin of Vis the Greek sage had to play an important part in the taste we wanted to create in our botanical gin. Coincidences are around us all the time it’s just a matter of looking for them, so they say and so it was, suddenly was Sandro standing outside our door with his hands filled with herbs from the wild pharmacy of Vis, the Botanist I had used as my source for identify what sage we were using in our botanical gin, a botanical gift and a confirmation of the Greeks impact of our HUM 587.
What would be a gin & tonic without a twist of lemons and lemons from Vis are reckoned to be the very best in all of Croatia, the oils and perfumed skin and juicy flesh is widely known. Tons of citrus fruits travel from Vis every winter to give countries a taste of the fresh summer. Of course citrus was an obvious choice when choosing the botanicals for our gins.
In the coldest months of the year the citrus fruits give a vibrant colour to Vis and they shout out to start the job of peeling 500 kilos of organic lemons from the lemon gardens of the Raffanelli family. The lemons are hand peeled and hung up to dry to keep the juice in the skin before destillation. The smell of the skin is like a clean, fresh perfume oil that brightens up your day and goes hand in hand with our gin.
To know what botanicals to put into the gin from Vis – the magic of nature, we needed to mix in all the knowledge from the women of the island; Anka Tomic and Beljamina Zitko when the receipe of HUM 587 took form. They invited us into their homes which resembled an ancient apothecary, in jars and bottles they kept dried botanicals all found in the wild nature of Vis, to be used in tinctures and also making their own botanical brandy known as Rakija. With their knowledge about the magic of nature; flowers, roots, peels and herbs we started picking botanicals with their assistance. With rose petals in her face and hands covered in thorns Ankas has filled up our distillery with wild Mandarin and Bergamot leaves for us to distil into our gin.
The history of Vis starts with the Greek’s who founded Vis, and named it Issa.You have to travel long back in your time capsule; all the way back to 4th century BC where the Greeks formed the most powerful Greek colony in the Adriatic sea with its own money, laws and strict controls on urban development on Issa. With them they brought the sage, the ancient Greeks used sage as a body and mind toner and later on, for the Romans as a sacred herb. In Croatia, the Greek sage (Salvia Fruticosa Mill) is only found on the island of Vis, and as part of history and the origin of Vis the Greek sage had to play an important part in the taste we wanted to create in our botanical gin. Coincidences are around us all the time it’s just a matter of looking for them, so they say and so it was, suddenly was Sandro standing outside our door with his hands filled with herbs from the wild pharmacy of Vis, the Botanist I had used as my source for identify what sage we were using in our botanical gin, a botanical gift and a confirmation of the Greeks impact of our HUM 587.
What would be a gin & tonic without a twist of lemons and lemons from Vis are reckoned to be the very best in all of Croatia, the oils and perfumed skin and juicy flesh is widely known. Tons of citrus fruits travel from Vis every winter to give countries a taste of the fresh summer. Of course citrus was an obvious choice when choosing the botanicals for our gins.
In the coldest months of the year the citrus fruits give a vibrant colour to Vis and they shout out to start the job of peeling 500 kilos of organic lemons from the lemon gardens of the Raffanelli family. The lemons are hand peeled and hung up to dry to keep the juice in the skin before destillation. The smell of the skin is like a clean, fresh perfume oil that brightens up your day and goes hand in hand with our gin.
Vis was once a forbidden and unknown island in the Adriatic. After the second world war, the island was one of the main Yugoslav military naval bases until the abandoning of the base in 1989.
It was only after 1991 that the island opened to foreign visitors. In that way, the island’s natural beauty was left intact, almost preserved and authentic. Behind them they left an impact on the island’s history and its navy did not reclaim most of the facilities with many of the abandoned buildings today being used for civilian purposes.
With the 300 litre copper still ready to produce the gin we needed premises to start the art of distillation and with the permission from the town of Vis the opportunity to build our distillery in a part of the former Jugoslavian military base became a reality.
A perfect location situated within a 10min walk from the ferry port.
Vis was once a forbidden and unknown island in the Adriatic. After the second world war, the island was one of the main Yugoslav military naval bases until the abandoning of the base in 1989.
It was only after 1991 that the island opened to foreign visitors. In that way, the island’s natural beauty was left intact, almost preserved and authentic. Behind them they left an impact on the island’s history and its navy did not reclaim most of the facilities with many of the abandoned buildings today being used for civilian purposes.
With the 300 litre copper still ready to produce the gin we needed premises to start the art of distillation and with the permission from the town of Vis the opportunity to build our distillery in a part of the former Jugoslavian military base became a reality.
A perfect location situated within a 10min walk from the ferry port.
