Brand of the Month: Silent Pool

January is nearly over and we are well on our way into 2022. We’ve experienced almost two years of living through a pandemic… We should all be very proud of ourselves and celebrate by drinking gin!

Unsurprisingly, our January Brand of the Month is Silent Pool Gin.

Deep in the lush Surrey Hills near the town of Guildford, on the banks of the silent pool (which is a small but stunning pond), you’ll find a beautiful gin distillery. Founded in 2015, this luxury gin brand was created with a vision to produce a truly sustainable distillery next to a freshwater source, for handcrafted spirits using locally sourced ingredients. 

Last week, the herd had our annual food and beverage tour. This year, the Surrey Hills was the location of choice. As part of this day, we visited the Silent Pool distillery and founder, Ian McCulloch, was kind enough to give us a tour and tell us all about his brand’s success.

Success in the Surrey Hills

A large factor of the success of the Silent Pool gin brand is down to its beautifully intricate bottle design, which can stand proud and elegantly within the kitchen of its consumer. Founder, Ian, describes the gin bottle as a ‘statement piece’, which aims to aid in signifying class and sophistication by its target consumer. We find that the premium yet reasonable pricing, further adds to this element of class and sophistication. 

Now, Silent Pool is the largest UK producer of super premium gin over £35, and exports to 35 countries.

Another reason for the success of the Silent Pool gin is, perhaps, its quintessentially British backstory. Some have rumored that in the early 20th century, Agatha Christie faked her own death there. Then there is a narrative that a medieval woodcutter’s daughter, Emma, who used to bathe in the pool regularly, fell into the pool after being frightened by a knight who was spying on her, and drowned. When the woodcutter found his missing daughter in the water, he also found the royal crest of Prince John, who later became King John of England. You can find this story elegantly designed into the pattern of the Silent Pool Gin, intertwined amongst the botanical imagery.

Green Man Gin

At Elephants Can’t Jump, we were excited to learn that Silent Pool have developed the first spirit in cardboard box packaging: Green Man Gin. This naming runs parallel with the mystical narrative of their overarching brand; The Green Man is a spiritual legend who signifies the power of nature and free spirit of the forest. This is a perfect link to the location of Silent Pool in the Surrey Hills, Britain’s most wooded county.

With all the exciting things happening at Silent Pool, we knew they would be our January Brand of the Month. A big thank you to Ian McCulloch and Melissa Thorn for their time and for sharing their wonderful brand with us.  To learn more about their gin, visit their website and even book in a tour for yourself!

As part of our tour, we also visited some lovely Surrey businesses such as the Plucky Pheasant next door to Newlands Corner, The William Bray in Shere, The Kingfisher Farm Shop in Abinger Hammer, and Secretts Farm Shop in Milford. Keep an eye out for an upcoming post on these hidden gems!

We’d love to hear your ideas on great brands to look out for this new year, so reach out to us in the comments or via LinkedIn and Twitter. Don’t forget to check out our blog for more industry insights and key events.

Header image source: Wotton House