The Danish colony of Tranquebar dates back to 1616 and our Tranquebar Colonial and Navy gins are based on the original gin recipes which were enjoyed onboard Danish merchant ships supplying Europe with spices and tea from the colony STORY - DANISH-East Indian Company
The story of Tranquebar Gin began in late 1615, when the two resident Denmark merchants, Jan de Willum from Amsterdam, and Herman Ro
senkrantz from Rotterdam, contacted King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway, with proposals to set up a trading company with a focus on trade with the Far East, in particular India, along the lines of the Dutch West India company (VOC). On November 29, 1618, the first expedition, comprising 5 ships under the command of the National Admiral, Ove Gjedde, sailed for India. The fleet did not arrive until May 1619, after a gruelling trip, when it first landed on the island of Ceylon. Thereafter, Gjedde succeeded in acquiring the city of Tranquebar (Trangambardi), located on the Coromandel Coast, in south - eastern India. Payment for the purchase of the city was in the form of 12 cannon. The company was subsequently established in Tranquebar, and a trading post and fort was built at Dansborg to protect the city. The East India Company was the main base in the Danish-owned colony of Tranquebar from 1620. In East India Company brought spices, such as cloves, cinnamon, pepper, cardamom and nutmeg, along with cotton textiles, tea, silk, ebony and the blue dye, indigo back to Denmark. In the colony's heyday in the late 1700s, there were over 200 Europeans stationed in Tranquebar, and the city served as the hub for all Danish trade in India, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Persia. In the early 1800s trading began to temporarily drop off for the Danish in the area, and the wars against England dealt the Danish fleet a severe blow. During the Napoleonic Wars, Tranquebar was occupied by the British in February 1808. However, it was later restored to Denmark following the Treaty of Kiel in 1814. On November 7, 1845 the renowned expedition ship Galathea visited Tranquebar, and the ship's captain, Steen Bille participated in an official ceremony where Tranquebar was sold to the British, along with Serampore in Bengal. Tranquebar was still a busy port, but later on it lost its importance when a railway was opened to Nagapattinam. PRODUCT - Tranquebar GIN
The many new and exotic spices the Indian company's ships brought back to Denmark inspired Jan de Willum to create a new version of the traditional Genever, which his family produced in their distillery in Amsterdam. Tranquebar Colonial Gin is based on this original recipe from Jan de Willum’s family archive. Just as in the 16th century, Tranquebar Gin is still distilled in Holland, now in the Genever capital Schiedam, at the esteemed Royal Dirkzwager Distillery which was founded in 1879. The taste of Tranquebar Gin is that of classic colonial gin with a warm, full-bodied, soft and spicy flavour of juniper, cardamom and cinnamon, together with a fresh breath of Orange and Citrus. Besides the classic gin herbs of juniper, coriander, orange peel, lemon peel and angelica, it also includes the more exotic flavours from cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and Darjeeling tea, all from the East Indies. Our "Master Distiller" Michael Schultz, distills and bottles Tranquebar Gin in small batches, all with individual bottle numbers and vintage indicators.
