THE MYTHOLOGY OF DRYAD GIN
The tale of Dry, Chiron & the bountiful blackbird.
Our story begins at the foothills of the Quantocks where peach-pink sunsets make soft silhouettes of the ancient oak trees. Powered by the desire to celebrate Somerset and the spirited people who call this land home, we began distilling Dryad Gin.
Our origins, however, are rooted in ancient history.
Drenched in mythology and a spiritual connection with nature, the gin takes its name from the ethereal nymph spirits that gave their lives to protect the majestic oak trees that have fed our land for centuries.
As guardian of the woodlands and the groves beyond, our dryad, affectionately known as Dry, would use her disarming charm and resourceful nature to shield the trees from harm. Dry spent many an evening dancing between the trees, bathed in warm dappled light, duty-bound to protect their potent powers.
She wasn’t the only guardian of the glades, however...
A most beguiling character – half-man, half-horse – also called them home. Whilst most centaurs were wildly mischievous, Chiron was a wise sage and renowned polymath who would while away the hours experimenting with everything from prophecy to archery, botany to pharmacy.
Bound by their wild hearts, Dry and Chiron would glide through the glades sharing the secrets of Somerset and swapping stories about the local flora and fauna ‘til no stone was left unturned. Chiron would call upon this expertise to brew fantastical elixirs from botanicals foraged from the rolling hedgerows, hoping to create a drink that recalled the wonders of the woodland with each sip.
One spring evening, Chiron was attempting to figure out a fusion that best captured those fabled days, pouring thimblefuls of this and thumbing handfuls of that to no avail. He stood bemused, marvelling at the fields painted gold in the half-light. Unbeknownst to him, a blackbird nestled in a nearby tree had been watching his every move.
The blackbird, destined to traverse the same territory year in, year out, knew exactly what Chiron needed to perfect his potion and was sitting with a peck of it hidden in its beak for safekeeping. As time went by and Chiron’s bemusement grew, the blackbird swept across the sky and dropped the secret ingredient into the potion before Chiron’s very eyes. The brew came to life in an instant, the bottle blooming with faded memories of balmy evenings spent roaming the rolling hills.
Chiron greedily supped from the bottle. Each sip sang of the guiding light of home – of chosen kinfolk, of tables laden with treats and of rooms aflame with love and laughter.
The blackbird’s beakful had worked. Dryad Gin was born.
The tale of Dry, Chiron and the bountiful blackbird spread far and wide, passing from woodland to woodland, generation to generation, taking on a life of its own. And it’s yours to share too!
It’s now custom to pour a ‘blackbird’s beakful’ of Dryad Gin over your shoulder and back into the earth to honour this creative collaboration and our co-existence with nature.
Wherever you may wander, we hope our gin inspires you to protect and celebrate the land and loved ones that you call home.
