Brand Profile - Blood Monkey Gin

Spirited Discovery

By Victoria CeCe

Blood Monkey is Rooted in Both History and The Future of Gin

Leave the tonic at home, folks. It’s time to sip gin neat. And there’s no better way to become accustomed to drinking the spirit this way than with Blood Monkey Gin.

Sailing into the spirits scene is a gin brand on a mission to disrupt. “Our approach is to interrupt the category by creating a fundamentally different offer, rooted in liquid history and fresh insight,” says Katie Dunn, cofounder of Blood Monkey.

Blood Monkey isn’t just another dry gin on the market. Instead, it’s a new take on an old style, reminding us of gin’s brazen seafaring roots. “Gin is a category of discovery,” Dunn explains. “Blood Monkey is completely different in the heritage of style, distillation process, and flavor.” And who is more dedicated to discovery than sailors? No wonder the gin’s name comes from ‘bleeding the monkey,’ a 17th-century term referring to seafaring merchants who drilled into officers’ barrels to drink the liquid gold inside. Although Blood Monkey isn’t stealing anyone’s gin, they’re surely carrying on the spirit of these sailors. You can taste it in the gin itself.

Blood Monkey Gin’s irresistibly easy-sipping nature isn’t a matter of coincidence. It’s a courageous homage to gin’s granddaddy— genever.

Before there was gin, there was genever. The Dutch spirit like gin but made with a malt-based spirit. With Dutch history deeply rooted in disruptive seafaring, it’s no wonder they birthed such a sippable beverage. Fortunately, bringing this history into the Irish spirits world wasn't farfetched. Ireland is an island with quite a history of seafarers, after all. It is also home to malt-based spirits. You may have heard of one—Irish whiskey. We all know how easy that is to sip.

Blood Monkey doesn’t taste like whiskey, of course. But its malt base gives it the smoothness that makes you re-think what you know about gin. “Blood Monkey is bringing something new to the Irish category,” notes Dunn. “Malted grain-based gin with robust botanicals.”

The brilliant mix of botanicals hardly goes unnoticed. The ingredients are experimental and thoughtful. Szechuan pepper, lime leaf, and Irish rosemary are just a few that carry this gin’s complexity.

When it comes to cocktails, Blood Monkey does a 180 on bartenders. “This is at the other end of the spectrum to floral and citrus forward gins that can't always stand up to tonic or often get lost in a cocktail,” Dunn explains. In other words, please don't treat this gin like its cousin Old Tom. “We use almond in our botanical mix for smoothness, which allows Blood Monkey to be enjoyed neat, unlike most gins,” adds Dunn.

Whether it's Blood Monkey’s drill bit-shaped bottle or unique botanicals, there’s no doubt this gin is about coasting away from the mainstream gin scene. It’s as independent as its distillation, which all happens in Ireland, by the way.

So, what does the horizon hold for such a daring gin? A future of flavors. We hear a spiced and even tropical gin are on the horizon. Until then, we will be sipping on this classic spirit served neat.