Even though we’re slowly getting back to something like normality, many businesses are still struggling. Some venues still can’t open, festivals and events have moved online. This keeps everyone safe, but means all the vendors that would normally have their biggest sales over the summer at festivals, events, or private dos such as weddings, are feeling the pinch.
Nautilus Mobile Bar is one of those – weddings on hold, events postponed til next year, their diary is looking good for 2021, but for 2020 they had to come up with something a little different.
They figured if you can’t come to the bar… The bar could come to you instead.
They created the Smugglers’ Club gin subscription. A bottle of gin, oodles of tonic (or other mixers), plus garnishes delivered to your door. Included is an introduction to the gin, and it’s flavour profile, and to the distillery behind it. Subscribe monthly, every two months or quarterly, and even better, choose from one of the two style of gin options. Purely dry gins with the Ocean Dry subscription, or Colourful Cargo, an exploration into fruit and alternate gins.
- I was lucky enough to try this months’ (August) delivery for myself, so allow me to share my experience.
- The delivery was made by person, distanced of course. Everything was packed in seashell dotted straw – environmentally friendly with a seaside touch. As for the gin itself, it was a familiar brand, if not familiar botanicals:
I’ve sampled a number of Poetic License Distillery Gins, but not this one, a blend of floral, citrus heavy buddha’s hand, and rich sweet raspberries. The result is slightly jammy, lots of bite from the citrus and juniper flavours. It’s ideal for mixing with tonic and a sprig of mint, or the dried raspberries that came as a garnish.
I love that you don’t just get one or two bottles of tonic, but six, and there’s a selection too. The garnishes work really well with the gin, and it was good to go a little out of my comfort zones and steer away from the dry gins.
So, down to to the nitty gritty. Deliveries are currently only being made across the North-West (postcode areas: BB, BL, M, OL, PR, SK, WA, WN) and are made the second week of the month. That means the deadline for orders for next month is 2 September. Deliveries are also as sustainable as possible, they don’t use plastic, and glassware is recyclable – in fact they’ll collect the jars that hold the garnishes from you next time they’re nearby. It’s a personal, personable service. Oh and ask such if you need to cancel, or take a break, just drop them a line or give them a call, and you can cancel the service. Easy peasy.
- Oh and the discount code GFB5 will give subscribers £5 off their 1st month – so you can give it a try for yourself, and support an independent at the same time. Win-win.