A CURIOUS NIGHT IN A CRYPT
FOR HENDRICKS ABSINTHE

The Challenge.

Hendrick’s Gin always has something truly unique bubbling away in the background. This time, it was the launch of their best kept secret: Hendrick’s Absinthe. Throw in tales from the crypt, a Parisian banquet and a double decker London bus and you have a launch event to remember.

We were asked to conceptualise, plan and deliver the launch in a way that embraced Hendrick’s tendency toward oddness and peculiarity. Our only brief was to invite up to 30 bartenders to a banquet, with the overarching theme being ‘nothing is quite what it seems…’

Our solution.

We filled a double-decker bus with some of London’s top bartenders and sent them off for a simple dinner hosted by Hendrick’s. But, naturally, nothing was what it seemed. The bus ‘broke down’ outside a 200 year-old crypt, whereby the crypt’s priest offered shelter, tea and tales of the crypt’s mysterious past. A wall then came tumbling down to reveal a 19th century Parisian style banquet complete with living foliage table runners, antique curios, ceiling projections, edible candles and confetti balloons.

Cue an evening of immersive dining with one very special guest of honour: Hendrick’s own Master Distiller, Lesley Gracie. The 3-course banquet included sharing platters, meat carving and notes to the French heritage of Absinthe, as well as sensory experiences that reflected the key flavour profiles of Hendrick’s take on the French spirit.

The result of all this revelry? 36 influential bartenders successfully introduced to Hendrick’s Absinthe before the product’s official release, and a bond with the Hendrick’s brand considerably strengthened.