Heritage

From Gin Tradition to Gipsy Origin, Rooted in Gin History, Crafted with Purpose & Award Winning

- Winner Traditional Gin Category

- Best in the Netherlands

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Gin History

The origin of London Dry Gin dates back to the 17th century. Gin is derived from the Dutch spirit known as "jenever" (or "genever"), a juniper-flavoured liquor that Dutch produced in distilleries like that of ODB which was established in 1658 in Schiedam. Soldiers drank jenever during the Eighty Years' War before going into battle, where it became known as "Dutch courage". 
At this time, the juniper spirit was introduced to England where "gin" was created. Its popularity soared during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, partly due to Holland's King William of Orange, who became William the III of England and who  encouraged gin production to reduce imports of French brandy.
Over time English distillers began refining and adapting the jenever recipe and "London Dry Gin" was created. This style was purer, more aromatic and made through the distillation of added botanicals like coriander. Unlike other versions of gin, London Dry Gin had no added sweeteners or artificial flavours and was not diluted.
The British Navy popularized gin among sailors, pairing it with quinine-laced tonic water (to combat malaria) and sometimes adding lime juice, creating the basis for the classic gin and tonic - the "G&T".
Sir Francis Chichester was known as a great drinker of gin and took this on board Gipsy Moth IV.  He made a number of famous "gin quotes".
The most famous being when he answered the Sydney journalists question  "When were your spirits at the lowest ebb? 
– his obvious answer was “when the gin gave out !”.
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Gipsy Gin Origin

The idea of Gipsy Moth IV London Dry Gin was first created in Scheveningen during the Ocean Race's The Hague stop-over in 2023 with the objective of helping support the ongoing operation and maintenance of Gipsy Moth IV and the preservation of its legacy.
Gin was Sir Francis Chichester’s favourite drink. He sipped his gin from his famous gimble chair on board Gipsy Moth IV, the worlds first ocean racer, while he raced around the world to set new records and beat the record time of the great tea clipper the Cutty Sark. 
Steeped in history like no other, Gipsy Moth IV Gin looks back to the time of William of Orange when these "original" spirits, distilled by ODB in Schiedam in 1658, were drunk by soldiers for "Dutch-courage" before going into battle. Chichester successfully battled the odds of the ocean, his age and cancer and kept his spirits high while enjoying his gin.
The Gipsy Moth IV Gin taste has an original Schiedam formulation of botanicals and is made 100 percent from natural ingredients following the same methods as used over 300 years ago.
The first batch of hand bottled and hand labelled Gipsy Moth IV Gin (batch no.1/2025) of 596 bottles has now been produced and is ready to be enjoyed by sailors, gin enthusiasts and Gipsy Moth IV followers and patrons alike.

Distillery 1658

Founded in 1658, the Onder de Boompjes Distillery stands among the oldest surviving distilling traditions in the Netherlands. Established by a family of wine merchants working with a master distiller, the distillery focused on grain-based spirits infused with juniper and botanicals using slow, traditional distillation methods.
Operating from Schiedam, a historic centre of Dutch distilling, ODB developed spirits that would later influence the evolution of gin beyond the Netherlands. While styles and tastes changed over the centuries, the distillery retained a craft-led approach, favouring natural ingredients and time-honoured techniques over industrial shortcuts.
This heritage forms the foundation of Gipsy Moth IV London Dry Gin. Rooted in Dutch distilling history and closely linked to maritime culture, the gin reflects the spirit enjoyed by sailors such as Sir Francis Chichester.