Message in a bottle from Hamburg - Part 2

Continued (click here for part one).

René Wolf is the creator of 20457 HafenCity Gin – yet this freelance advertiser never planned this career path. With an exotic blend, he triggers veritable explosions of flavour, but it was a long road to get there.

A bumpy start

But the immense popularity eventually changed that attitude. Together with Toni as his business partner, René refined the recipe and set out to find a distillery for large-scale production. But the first collaboration backfired: “It didn’t work at all. They simply couldn’t get my recipe right. At the start, they put the wrong ingredients in, but I didn’t realise that until later. You keep getting samples, and you test them and give feedback, and you wonder why the flavour isn’t right.”

Time was running out and the target of being on the market in time for the 2017 Christmas season was in jeopardy. Until chance intervened once more. Whilst visiting a friend in the Flensburg Fjord in September, René heard about a nearby distillery, the northernmost in Germany. “The next day I drove there, spoke to them – and five weeks later I had my 20457 HafenCity Gin.” Since then, the spirit has been quadruple-distilled in the small fruit distillery’s 200-litre copper still, “but very slowly, so that none of the aromas are lost.” This means the production also meets the standard for “London Dry Gin”, the highest quality grade.

Overtime in the living room

While one problem had been solved, new difficulties arose. In addition to bottles with defects, the labels featuring the fictional maritime symbol made René’s life particularly difficult, as they wouldn’t stick and kept creasing. For days on end, the self-proclaimed optimist smoothed out the stickers in his living room or removed failed labels by hand (“utter madness!”). Here, too, he was able to rely on the help of his friends until the company founder found a new printer.

He now runs the business on his own, as Toni doesn’t have the time. The freelance advertiser knows this all too well. If René receives a commission, the gin has to wait. Then, in the evenings, he focuses on acquiring new retailers, specialist shops or bars and crafts suitable decorations such as card holders for existing customers. “There’s actually always something to do,” he says – regularly causing his girlfriend Vera to roll her eyes. To unwind, he heads off with his son Emil to their own holiday cottage on the Elbe, which is situated in the middle of a nature reserve.

Message in a bottle

When René talks about these breaks, his blue eyes practically light up – just as they do when the subject turns to HafenCity, where he has lived since 2011: “I like that pioneering spirit. Being actively involved in how a district grows – I find that exciting.” He has also made it his mission to combat prejudice. “That’s why we’ve done away with all the bling and glitter for the gin, opting instead for a bottle that could easily be found floating in the Elbe.”

Now these bottles are mostly found in bars rather than in the Elbe. Since this summer, there’s also been a ‘Navy Strength’ version with 57% alcohol, which is suitable for various drink variations. “It’s got a lot more punch,” says René, “when you’re making more complex cocktails with lots of other ingredients that have a strong flavour of their own, you need more alcohol. More alcohol also means more aroma.”

Just in time for the brand’s second birthday, the gin is also being released as a cask-aged edition, in which the spirit absorbs the warm notes of the rum casks. A completely new variety made with local ingredients is also set to be launched in 2020. René’s aim is to let 20457 HafenCity Gin grow slowly through word of mouth. Even during the conversation, a spontaneous tasting takes place, followed by a passionate debate about the flavour notes with the café staff. And then René has to smile once more – when he reveals that he is actually a beer drinker.