Another Hendrick’s Gin: ‘Ginnaissance’ Continues. An Exclusive Interview with Nora Torpey, MD Hendrick’s Gin (Global) and Lesley Gracie, Hendrick’s Master Distiller.
7 minutes read
Introduction by: Peter Marshall
Twenty-six years ago a curious apothecary bottle from Girvan rewrote the rules of gin, pairing Bulgarian rose and cucumber with an unmistakable sense of theatre. Hendrick’s didn’t just join the category as much as light the fuse on a global ginnaissance.
And now there’s Another Hendrick’s, only its second permanent expression in over two decades. Built on Hendrick’s Gin itself but pushed somewhere richer, floral and velvety with cacao. It is, essentially, reinvention chosen over comfort. Welcome to an inspiring conversation with Nora Torpey, Managing Director of Hendrick’s Gin (Global), and Master Distiller Lesley Gracie as we discuss instinct over playbooks, and what they hope this bottle will mean a decade from now.
Peter Marshall (PM): Welcome to Trunblocked.com Nora, Lesley. So let’s begin with the big decision for you both. Another Hendrick’s is only the second permanent expression in more than two decades of the brand. From each of your perspectives, what problem or opportunity was important enough to justify changing a formula and portfolio strategy that were already working so well?
NORA TORPEY (NT): Hendrick’s burst onto the scene 26 years ago with a product, liquid, and brand positioning that was truly different and entirely unlike anything that had come before. It helped drive a ginnaisance and the Cabinet of Curiosities limited edition releases over the past seven years have been incredibly successful – both commercially and creatively.
The gin category has changed beyond recognition since 1999, and what was different then has now become the new modern standard in gin. Hendrick’s leads the category as the number one premium plus brand, but it has never been a brand that has rested on its laurels. Hendrick’s has always had this incredible confidence and creativity to do things that are truly distinctive and different. In order to continue outperforming the category, it is necessary for Hendrick’s to once again create that jump to stand out and super charge everything that has made Hendrick’s really unique from the very beginning.
Personally, I love driving those big change programmes from a brand perspective, creating wider business change that impacts culture and performance is what I do best.
PM: Now, I understand the liquid builds on Hendrick’s classic profile but introduces cacao and orange blossom, while the brand introduces a “second sensory dimension” with the white bottle beside the black. How did you make sure the creative and strategic briefs stayed tightly aligned between the lab, the design studio and the boardroom?
NT: Creativity is not linear. People would love to hear that I wrote a brief and we got a response and that was it. But the reality is blood, sweat, and tears. We went in every single direction and down lots of different creative rabbit holes until we landed on something that made sense for a brand like Hendrick’s to reach a new generation of consumer.
PM: You both talk about loving chocolate and flowers, yet for many gin drinkers cacao is still a pretty provocative idea. What consumer or bartender insight gave you confidence that this wouldn’t be dismissed as a gimmick, but could become a credible new pillar for Hendrick’s rather than a one‑season curiosity?
LESLEY GRACIE (LG): When I was developing what would become Another Hendrick’s, I started off with the question I always ask: ‘what if…?’ What if I was to create Hendrick’s again with no creative constraints, what would I do to really stand out with consumers today?
Inadvertently, I suppose a bartender inspired Another Hendrick’s. I was in a bar in Mexico City enjoying this cocktail with a cacao flower garnish and the floral and cacao elements sat really well together. Cacao is notoriously difficult to play with in gin as it’s so dominant, but this garnish set me thinking, ‘What if…?’ What if we rounded out the deep cacao character with a floral element? So I started playing around with that idea and experimented using the cacao plant growing in the tropical greenhouse at the Hendrick’s Gin Palace. I found orange blossom provided that perfect bright, light lift to the cacao while retaining that rich element.
I didn’t know at that early stage that Another Hendrick’s was to be a new permanent expression. I leave the clever marketing and commercial decisions to the team. But I am very happy to see the two expressions together, as they look great together side by side. Both are Hendrick’s, just two different sensory sides to the brand. Hendrick’s Gin is green, fresh, crisp, and round. Another Hendrick’s has this deep cacao character and is richly indulgent, fragrant, and velvety.
PM: Lesley, you’ve spent years experimenting in the Gin Palace and greenhouses. Nora, you’ve inherited a brand with a famously distinctive world. Where did you most disagree during the development of Another Hendrick’s, and what did that tension ultimately improve in the final product or launch plan?
LG: I don’t really think we had any disagreements. Not really. I focus on the liquid quality and leave the marketing to the experts. When I first saw the original Hendrick’s bottle it wasn’t what I expected. I was like, ‘Wow, that is different.’ Similarly, when they talked about the white bottle and showed it to me, I thought ‘Wow, that’s so different.’ But together they work. Like it was meant to be.
NT: With every brand I’ve ever worked on, I try and figure out what is that unlock that will spark exponential growth and drive change, and for Hendrick’s that unlock is absolutely about creativity. Extraordinary creativity. And I really value that. I try to put the right structure in place to support that creativity and not hinder it. The liquid artistry that Lesley creates is magic; there’s not much for us to disagree on there. The liquid Lesley had created when given free reign to create Hendrick’s again for today was so strong and so different and yet so Hendrick’s at its core that it led to us deciding to make it a permanent part of the lineup. Lesley is always able to see the marketing plans and is always very happy to travel anywhere in the world to support a launch, so long as she can visit the local botanical gardens or zoo.
PM: Now, with core Hendrick’s, Cabinet of Curiosities, travel‑retail exclusives and now Another Hendrick’s, the portfolio is definitely getting richer and more layered. How are you jointly deciding what sits in the permanent “Hendrick’s canon” versus what remains experimental, and what criteria would a future idea have to meet to join Another Hendrick’s as a permanent expression?
LG: I think there would have to be a discussion around it if marketing were thinking of doing another permanent one. There’s not another permanent expression in my foreseeable future, maybe in Nora’s, I don’t know…
NT: Hendrick’s is a brand full of layers and the liquid is no exception. Allowing our team to be truly creative is crucial to the success of the brand. Where we decide a liquid or concept sits in the whole brand architecture is a discussion at the appropriate time; there’s not a specific criteria or playbook we’re fixed on.
PM: Of course, a lot of Hendrick’s growth has come from on‑premise advocacy and very theatrical experiences in airports and bars. How do you see Another Hendrick’s reshaping the way you brief bartenders and your retail partner – both in terms of the kind of serves Lesley may envisage and the brand world Nora wants travellers and drinkers to walk into?
LG: The new drinks for Another Hendrick’s all still contain the cucumber garnish – the sign you are drinking Hendrick’s – as the liquid is built using Hendrick’s Gin as its base. But the drinks will be designed in a slightly different way, so the floral and cacao elements are emphasized in the drinks that people are getting. Another Hendrick’s still sits with tonic and soda and in a martini, as standard. But the drinks Charmaine, our global ambassador, has come up with are different and are designed for lighter, pre-dining occasions.
NT: With the release of Another Hendrick’s we’re doubling down on immersive experiences. We’re partnering with the best possible people we can to provide exceptional experiences that spark joy and provoke wonder and open people’s minds to new possibilities. Hendrick’s has always been a brand with this incredible duality – the two unusual stills we use to create a liquid, complex and yet light, the flourish of rose and cucumber, and now we have another duality, Hendrick’s Gin and Another Hendrick’s Gin, and this will provide so much creative territory to play in.
PM: I suspect success will look different for each of you: for Lesley in the glass, and for Nora in the numbers and brand equity. If you had to choose one leading indicator each, in the first 12–18 months since launch that would convince you Another Hendrick’s is doing what you hoped, what would it be?
LG: For me, it’s people drinking it. If people like it that makes it good for me, so I suppose volume is the key indicator of success from my point of view. And good feedback – people telling me they like it, that’s what I’m interested in.
NT: Brand sentiment / brand perception metrics. I expect to see the brand draw new consumers into the category and see a jump in those numbers regarding brand saliency, brand dynamism, and brand differentiation.
PM: When people look back in 10 years’ time, what do you hope they say Another Hendrick’s did for Hendrick’s as a whole? Did it open a new emotional space for the brand and redefine what a Hendrick’s gin can taste like? Or change how the wider gin category thinks about flavour and permanence? Perhaps both?
LG: I’d hope that when people look back in 10 years’ time and reflect on what Another Hendrick’s did for Hendrick’s as a whole they say it showed the liquid really is different. It uses the Hendrick’s Gin as the base, so hopefully as people discover Another Hendrick’s they rediscover Hendrick’s Gin at the same time. The rich velvety character that you get from the cacao in Another Hendrick’s is totally different and is really indulgent. Both go down a different sensory route but work so nicely side by side.
NT: I’d hope on reflection Another Hendrick’s is shown to have helped make Hendrick’s more culturally resonant and served to strengthen everything that is distinctive and different about the Hendrick’s brand and allow a new generation to discover it for themselves.
