Distilling Technique and Marketing Mystique Helped Bombay Sapphire Make It in America

A New York adman and a French exec made the English gin a success

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As any connoisseur will tell you, a proper English dry gin comes from the balancing of exotic ingredients. Bombay Sapphire is no exception, but in the case of this storied brand, there’s another key ingredient in the mix: the work of two exceptional marketers.

But first, the gin. Though the premium gin in the famous blue bottle is a product of the go-go 1980s, the story actually begins in 1761, when a 25-year-old distiller named Thomas Dakin assembled choice botanicals and began making Bombay Dry Gin—what many later considered the first quality gin in the country.

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This story first appeared in the Oct. 2, 2017, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.