Making Gin in the Middle of Conflict I’ll admit it, every time I read The Gin Guide webpage and see the beautiful distilleries and stunning bottle designs from fellow gin makers, especially those in peaceful, stable places, I feel a little bit of envy. Not because they don’t deserve it, they absolutely do, but because the path we’ve had to take to create Damascus Gin has been something else entirely. Making gin in a country marked by conflict, in a region where things can shift overnight, isn’t just difficult. It’s draining. It’s slow. It’s full of uncertainty. But somehow, we’re still here.
Damascus Gin was born from a wild, beautiful idea: to craft a gin that brings together the spirit of Syria and Lebanon. That sounds poetic now, but in practice, it’s been a real fight. Getting botanicals from Syria isn’t easy when the borders close overnight because of the war or when new rules appear without warning. Even getting bottles from Europe can take weeks, sometimes months. Designs for our labels came from young artists in Syria, and they worked with constant power cuts and barely any internet. Everything took longer than expected. Everything cost more than it should. And just when we thought we had it already; the gin, the label, the beautiful box, the bottle sealed in wax and numbered by laser, Lebanon found itself on the edge of a new war. Bombs were falling in the south and Beirut. Tourists stopped coming. Bars were half empty. Export felt impossible. Even celebrating felt wrong. We’d built something we were proud of, but we weren’t sure if anyone would ever get to taste it. And still, we kept going.
People sometimes ask why we do it. Yes, of course we want to sell gin. We want to grow, to be known, to see Damascus Gin on shelves in London or Tokyo. But there’s more to it. We want to share something about this part of the world, mostly associated to conflict, that people often forget. This is a region of stories, of invention, of culture. It’s where the alphabet was born. It’s where people first wrote things down and started making sense of the world.
So yes, I envy the distillers in France or Australia. I’m sure their costs are lower, and they don’t have to check the news every morning before ordering labels. But I also know that wherever you are, selling gin is tough. Making it is art but selling it is war. And doing both from Lebanon? It’s a miracle. But it’s our miracle. Being named a Finalist by The Gin Guide in 2025 meant more than any of you can imagine. It came at a moment when we were exhausted, when the future looked bleak, and we were wondering if we’d made a mistake chasing this dream. That recognition gave us something priceless - hope. We're especially grateful to the team behind The Gin Guide for giving us the opportunity to take part in it all. And for that, from all of us behind Damascus Gin, thank you. You Might Also Like...
Comments are closed.
|
RSS Feed
