Holy Island Gin packages prove just the tonic during pandemic lockdown

Holy Island Gin Company's 'stay at home' bundle.

The Lindisfarne micro-distillery has put together a ‘stay at home’ bundle to provide customers with everything they need for a refreshing G&T in a single package.

Distillery owner Andrew Cowan has been delighted to see the package being snapped up from all corners of the UK.

“It’s been really popular,” he said. “We’ve had 50 packages a week – which is quite a lot for a small micro-distillery like us – going out to every single corner of the UK, from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to south-west England.”

Further interest has been generated after the ‘stay at home’ bundle – comprising gin, premium tonic water, reusable ice cubes and slices of dehydrated orange wheels – was featured in The Times last weekend.

“Gin is a very competitive market so the national publicity has been great,” said Andrew, who founded the company in 2016.

Especially so when the company, based at his parents’ pub, has seen its usual income stream dry up.

“We would normally expect to do quite well from the thousands of visitors who normally come to Holy Island each year,” said Andrew, who runs the business with support from Molly Luke.

“We had just started getting our brand well established, especially along the coast and between Edinburgh and Newcastle, and last year decided to build a bigger micro-brewery with a 250l gin still in the beer garden at The Ship.

“2020 was the year that we really hoped to get the name out there. We were going to open up a gin bar in the beer garden but then this all happened.

“Obviously the pub was completely locked down which has hit us hard but one of the few benefits is that it gave us some time to start working on a few other ideas and that’s when we came up with the ‘stay at home’ bundle.

“We thought it would be nice if we could get the complete G&T package to people who are perhaps self-isolating, so we’ve added stainless steel ice cubes and started doing dehydrated orange at home and it seems to have gone down well.”

Meanwhile, lockdown has given Andrew a surreal new perspective on Island life.

“I remember going for a walk over the Easter bank holiday, which would normally be incredibly busy, and there was no-one around. It’s probably the one and only time that will ever happen so it felt surreal.

“It will be interesting to see what happens now the lockdown has been eased,” he added. “I have no problem with people coming to use the beaches but a lot of islanders are worried about an influx of visitors wandering around the village.”

The bundle costs £30 and includes: 1 x 350ml bottle of original Holy Island Gin; 2 x 200ml bottles of Franklin & Sons premium tonic water; 1 reusable ‘ice cubes’; 2 x slices of dehydrated orange wheels.

For more information and to purchase visit: https://www.holyislandgin.co.uk/ Customers can use offer code STAYHOME to redeem free shipping on the bundle.

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