Born and bred in Paradise

The world is awash in a sea of gin and for good reason, it is a very versatile and refreshing liquor that appeals to a wide cross section of consumers, and there are a multitude of styles of gin to choose from.

It is a very busy marketplace and difficult to stand out in the crowd but  Blue Turtle Gin is lucky to fill a quite unique space in the world of gin. 

It is the only real gin ever to be produced in Fiji and,  as far as we know,  it is a world first with  the only gin ever to distill yaqona ( kava) as a base botanical.

Unlike most gin makers we produce our own neutral spirit from sugar cane products ( which we use to make our VulaViti Vodka)  and Blue Turtle is a one shot distillation, no later additions, no mixing or blending, just a nice long slow gentle distillation.

 Along with Yaqona Blue Turtle Gin comprises a very unique set of local botanicals

We use wild hand picked Moli Kula to add a citrus note. Moli Kula literally means ugly lemon in Fijian but it is a very particular type of citrus and is identified by its deep orange flesh and it appears to be a wild and unruly cousin of the Seville orange. It is a very strong citrus that adds an unusually fine perfumed note to the gin.

LaiLai is a native ginger that has traditionally been used for medicinal purposes much in the same way as Juniper has been a traditional medicine for eons. LaiLai is a very deep rich ginger and in high concentrations the taste can be acrid, which can be attested to by many a Fijian child who was forced to drink it ! The subtle addition of it to Blue Turtle adds a very unusual back note that compliments the perfume of the Moli Kula

The addition of curry leaf to the Blue Turtle Gin was very serendipitous. We had been trialling numerous flavour profiles and had moved to full distillations, and although the product was good it was missing something. Wandering around the back garden late one afternoon (admittedly with a gin in hand)  we walked straight into the curry leaf tree and it proved to be a light bulb moment.  The addition of curry leaf proved to be the final herb that lifted the back of the gin and provided a delightful conclusion to the herb bill that represented another large part of Fiji’s culture.

Blue Turtle Gin is the result of a long journey of our family that first came to Fiji in the 1860’s to study the flora and start farming and  we hope that Blue Turtle Gin is a true expression of Fiji, her beauty, and her many peoples and cultures.

Enjoy!