Kilmartin Glen Sprits

Kilmartin Glen Sprints launched their first Gin in early 2022. After a year of research, production & development, their first flagship product was released to the market. Their gin is enriched with hand foraged botanicals from around the fascinating and mysterious Glen. Kilmartin Glen is one of Scotland’s richest pre-historic landscapes. It was of profound significance to its people, spanning 5000 years. At its heart is the Village of Kilmartin where the brand was born.

My Creative took influence from the beautiful & simple rock carvings left by the first people to populate and thrive in Kilmartin. Their creativity and craft can still be seen today, although the original significance of these marks remains a mystery and open to interpretation.  These beginnings were a perfect starting point to tell our story. We wanted to reimagine this culture and its symbolism in a modern & refined way. To reflect the quality of the Gin and the historical area the brand would live beside. Developing the brand & packaging with natural colour and materials like hessian, wicker, earthenware and bronze. Elements that coexisted with this cultural heritage. We juxtaposed this with a clean glass base and simple typography.

The Products Second Life was a key requirement from the start, we wanted the bottle to be reused for a lifetime, not just recycled. Customers were encouraged to remove the legal labeling info and repropouse the bottle as a water jug, oil dispenser, flower vase or just a nice and useful object to have around the home.

A bit more on “The History!” and it’s vast! Many tribes and religions settled in the glen over the centuries. But the biggest influence on our research work came from the beautiful and simple rock carvings left by the late Neolithic and Early Bronze age people. We can only speculate as to the original significance of these so-called “cup and ring” marks. The markings and stone structures that have been left, are found all around Kilmartin Glen and many are believed to be about 5,000 years old. This was clearly a well populated cultural centre of importance. With 100s of burial sites and 1000s or standing stones and carvings. Most predating StoneHenge and the Pyramids of Giza. These structures would have taken great skill, time and organisation to build. Their creativity and craftsmanship can still be seen today.