Meet the family behind our September 2020 Gin of the Month!

Deep in the tangled forests of India, a mythical being with two tails and three eyes prowls the foothills of the Western Ghats. This stranger, the bearer of wisdom, keeps juniper berries tucked in her tails and the recipe for the perfect Indian gin in her mind. One night, under a full moon, she visited the verdant coast of Goa, where she passed along her secrets to a very special family.

Meet the distillers behind Stranger & Sons Gin, our award-winning September 2020 Gin of the Month, and hear the incredible tale behind the creation of this strange yet utter delicious spirit.

India is a world unto itself. The birthplace of several world cultures, this sprawling state is home both to heaving metropolises, where the whole world seems to change from moment to moment and to rural idylls where life has kept the same cadence for hundreds of years.

In this land of contradictions, worlds as different as day and night thrive alongside each other. And the connecting piece – the golden hour that draws darkness and light together – is a deep instinct for storytelling.

For Sakshi – along with her co-founders, husband Rahul Mehra and cousin Vidur Gupta – the rich stories of their Indian childhood became even more crucial one night as a full moon shone over the tropical shores of Goa. An ancient creature suffused with magic and mystery appeared to this tight-knit family in a lucid dream. And she brought them something very special indeed.

This mysterious creature had the recipe for the world’s first truly Indian gin hidden in her third eye. Finding something special in Sakshi, Rahul and Vidur, she shared it with them – and set this family on the path to building the first gin distillery in India and, eventually, distilling the beautiful gin in our member’s September 2020 Gin of the Month box.

Sakshi, Rahul and Vidur were business people, entrepreneurs and restaurateurs who had built their careers by harnessing the energy and excitement of India in all its glorious modernity and style. They spent their most formative years watching their nation grow into a modern powerhouse while still retaining all the ancient customs and myths that make it such a varied country.

But when they went abroad and began drinking gin – whether in London’s craft cocktails or the gin tonics of Barcelona – they kept encountering gin brands based on a vision of India that they knew very well had never been a reality.

As the birthplace of the gin and tonic, it would stand to reason that India is as crazy about gin as the UK. But, in fact, the country’s gin wave has just begun.

The Indian spirit of choice has historically been rum, so when Stranger & Sons’ co-founders decided to open a distillery, it would be India’s first with an emphasis on gin. But they knew that their home country was rich with botanicals. And while gin wasn’t the spirit that brought Indians together, it was a perfect vehicle for the thing that did: spices.

This was the India – full of variety and ingenuity, tradition and flavour – that Vidur, Sakshi and Rahul wanted to distil into their gin.

The group began by tasting more than 400 gins, picking out the flavours and styles they liked best. They knew that they wanted to create a robust gin with a distinctly Indian flavour profile. But with so many amazing botanicals to choose from, and so much at stake, these distillers found themselves stuck.

That’s where the mythical creature stepped in. Seeing their noble struggle in pursuit of an authentic Indian gin, she appeared to them in a lucid dream. Her gift to these champions? The names of nine inherently Indian botanicals, which would come together with Macedonian juniper to form the strange and spectacular spirit that Rahul, Sakshi and Vidur had hoped to make. They packed their bags and headed to Goa, on the southwestern coast. It was time to build their distillery.

Setting up an independent distillery in India is no easy feat, with every state having its own regulations. Additionally, alcohol is conventionally mass-produced, resulting in the perception that local products are of lower quality. Stranger & Sons, a small-batch and premium craft gin, was set to change minds.

Beautiful Goa is a microcosm of all that Sakshi, Rahul and Vidur adore about India.

Famous around the world for its white-sand beaches, gentle blue waves and incredible nightlife, Goa is, in fact, a fascinating patchwork of Indian and Portuguese cultures. Much of the European-style architecture still stands, incongruous and incredible against the backdrop of a tropical paradise. Like all of India, Goa is a place of incredible character; of painful legacies and thrilling futures; of cricket and the spice box.

And, crucially for the co-founders of Third Eye Distillery, Goa is a land bursting with botanical flavours. It was the perfect location to build their distillery. In fact, the team can source their raw materials from very close to home.

These beautiful botanicals are joined in Third Eye Distillery’s high-tech still by a mix of Indian citrus peels, hand-selected to capture the diversity of the country’s produce.

The team at Third Eye Distillery – headed up by master distiller Charnelle, who spent five years distilling for one of the biggest drinks businesses in the world before turning to gin – always sticks to the ‘one-shot’ method. This distillation technique dictates that all of the botanicals be distilled together, in a single round. It requires absolute precision and extended experimentation to get right, ensuring that the best possible flavour is extracted from hardier ingredients without burning more delicate botanicals. When the distiller gets it right, it’s an incredible testament to their skill. 

With its bright citrus and complex spice blend, Stranger & Sons is every bit as magical as the mythical being that came to its creators in a dream – and its authentic, inherent connection to India goes beyond what’s in the glass.

Its birthplace and botanicals are authentically Indian, but Stranger & Sons’ connection to Indian culture goes beyond how it tastes.

With most family businesses, knowledge and wisdom are passed down from one generation to the other; for Rahul, Sakshi and Vidur, working together gives all three of them the benefit of insight.

All three co-founders are involved in every aspect of the business, including one crucial part: their commitment to giving back.

It takes a lot of water to make gin, and the team at Third Eye Distillery works hard to ensure that as little as possible goes to waste. They’ve invested in a recycling tank, which reduces their water requirement from 10,000 litres every week to just 25. And, when they must drain water, they always use it to water the botanical garden behind the distillery.

That garden is kept by women from a local self-help group, primerily housewives looking to learn new skills or find a new vocation. Be it by peeling the citrus fruits for the still or advising on which botanicals and fruits will flourish on the land behind the distillery, their contribution is invaluable for everyone involved.

And nothing from this garden ever goes to waste. Even the flesh of the citrus fruits finds a new life in the cordials that Third Eye Distillery uses to make its signature cocktails, or becomes a beautiful pickle – another rich Indian tradition, and perfect for garnishing a drink.

In its beautiful bottle, emblazoned with the sun and moon, this gin represents the point where all of India’s contradictions – past and future, tradition and innovation, myth and reality – come together to create a single, incredible country.

Mausambi limes, or Indian sweet limes, are common fixtures in most Indian kitchens. They have a lot of sweet juice and a thick, sweet peel.

These limes are small, sharp and very sour – perfect for pickling! After two years of growth, the nimbu lime trees at Third Eye Distillery have just yielded their first crop.

Join today to get your hands on this amazing gin, while stocks last!