Our distillers’ journey started when we ordered a petit still from a Croatian craftsman whose family has been making traditional Balkan style stills for generations. We loved gin, we loved cooking, and we loved experimenting with flavors. In our petit still we distilled various versions of gin, apple brandy, fig brandy, and grappa- using fruit and herbs from our garden and our surroundings, the beautiful Istrian peninsula. There were times when our kitchen table would be filled with juniper berries, orange peel, coriander seeds, anis, cumin, black pepper, rosemary and sage, and the whole house would smell like potion’s lab. From there, we decided to take things further.
Foto: Jaka Bulc
We have both ended our careers in the fields of electrical engineering and conservation of monuments respectively, and wanted to move close to the sea where we could produce high-quality brandies from local fruit and herbs. We started by collecting and studying literature on distilling, then visiting craft distilleries that we admired, and finally spending a month in Japan, learning the craft from master distiller Hiroshi Eguchi. In April 2019, we traveled to Mitosaya Botanical Distillery in Chiba Prefecture, located in the middle of a botanical garden planted with medicinal herbs. There, we learned about fruit and herbs, about fermentation and maceration, about distilling and mixing flavors. Together with Hiroshi, we visited farms and helped with picking and foraging various types of edible flowers and herbs. We took part in bottling and packaging, in presenting the brandies and making cocktails. Hiroshi’s wife and partner Yuko Yamamoto, taught us how to make tea blends and syrups for the cocktails, but also encouraged us to be creative and to let nature inspire us.
Upon coming back from Japan, we were full of enthusiasm and ideas, which was perfect timing to start pursuing the licenses and working hard to transform our small space into a distillery. We ordered another still from the same craftsman, this time a much bigger one, designed especially for us. We made most of the work by ourselves, with the help of family and friends, and the three years have seen us completing our distillery, foraging, macerating, fermenting, distilling local fruit and herbs, experimenting with the flavors, and producing fine gin and eaux de vie. In the meantime, our gin and eux de vie are now available in selected Croatian restaurants, hotels, and bars, as well as on the Japanese and Slovenian market.
We wanted the name of the distillery to be connected to our location and to help with raising awareness of the much-needed protection of our sea. Monachus Monachus is the Latin name for the Mediterranean Monk Seal, a critically endangered species with population estimated to less than 700 individuals. Up to a couple of years ago, one female lived very close to our distillery in Istria, and we had the luck of seeing her in the wild, during a winter walk on Cape Kamenjak.
Our aim is to be as environmentally friendly as we can, which includes using local herbs and fruit, supporting organic farmers, using zero plastic in our packaging and except for the fermentation tanks, no plastic in production, supporting the environmental organizations that take care of the endangered wildlife: namely, Spanish foundation CBD-Habitat that watches over the biggest remaining colony of the Mediterranean Monk Seal in the world, and Croatian association BIOM, whose goal is keeping biodiveristy, focusing on birds.
We hope for your support in both our distiller’s journey and an aim to be good to nature that has given us (and keeps on giving) so much.
Yours,
Anja and Luka
Get to know Monachus Distillery
