Ginspiration: try Hvar in a bottle

Every year visitors flock to Croatia's shores, spending their holiday swimming in crystal clear seas and basking under the summer sun.

Blessed with more sunny days than anywhere else in the country, Hvar's almost 3000 hours of annual sunshine help produce the all-natural ingredients that go into Hvar22 gins. Like your holiday in Croatia, Hvar22 gins aren't easily forgotten.

© Hvar22

At a small distillery on Hvar, Carić has for many years been taking advantage of the bounty produced in this natural paradise. After discovering his small distillery by accident, business partners Križan Pavić and Juraj Bartolić were astounded by the quality of Carić’s gin and have invested heavily in order to introduce the new range of Hvar22 gins to the world.

Collecting rainwater in the time-honoured island tradition, they blend some of the hundreds of natural herbs that grow on Hvar with orange and lemon peel from nearby island Vis to make the five distinct gins of Hvar22. Rather unusually, they use wine distillate which is produced from four native Hvar grapes, after passing six times through a secret, all-natural filtration process.

© Hvar22 

Hvar's golden juniper berries, which contain three times more essential oils than the kinds regularly used in gin production, are balanced with herbs like coriander and rosemary, each handpicked, giving Hvar22's owners, Križan Pavić and Juraj Bartolić with their distiller Carić, the confidence to sign off each of their distinctive bottles by hand.

Hvar22 gins are demanded by Croatia's best cocktail makers and the country's most exclusive hotels. Using only natural, locally grown ingredients, be sure to sample a bottle.