Das ist gut! Leipzig gin comes to Plymouth
By WILLIAM TELFORD, Business Editor, @WTelfordHerald
PRODUCERS of the world’s newest brand of gin are hoping to sell it in the city that is home to one of the oldest.
The German delegation which visited Plymouth for the Devon Business Show brought with them the new Long Horn handcrafted lipsk dry gin.
But the brand disappeared during the Communist era, until it was brought back following re-unification.
German businessman Lutz Thielemann (above), ex-managing director of Invest Region Leipzig, recently took control of the rights to the 42 per cent drink and re-started production with gusto.
He sent bottles of Long Horn with the Leipzig delegates to the home of 41.2 per cent Plymouth Gin, distilled in the city since 1793.
“We wanted to bring the first bottles in the UK to the home of gin,” said James Parsons, English-born director of Leipzig languages business ICC Sprachinstitut.
He explained how the gin is flavoured with lime, because the origin of the name Leipzig is a Slavic word for lime tree: lipsk. The trees are common around the city.
“My company translated the Long Horn website,” Mr Parsons said. “This is not just a product for Leipzig but for the world.”
He said the producer, Wilhelm Horn Markenspirituosen GmbH, was looking for Plymouth bars that wanted to stock Long Horn and said they could order it off the website.
“But we don’t want it to take the place of Plymouth Gin,” he said. “It would be good to build a bridge between Plymouth and Leipzig.
“And after all, there’s a shop in Leipzig selling (St Austell Brewery’s) Proper Job beer.”
(The visit was organised by Dorcas Media and supported by the Devon Chamber of Commerce)