D-day gin is a gin with a special thought, a special story of a grandfather and grandson. The idea originated in Uganda where Kenneth visited the project of the non-profit organization Child Soldiers in 2013. During his visit Kenneth reacted quite violently to the malaria pills he had to swallow, the only conceivable remedy came from his grandfather who was stationed in the north of Africa as a soldier in WWII. The quinine in tonic would stop the mosquitoes stinging him.
Drinking gin and tonic, that helped!
Albert, Kenneth's grandfather was born in London and fell in love with Helena van der Eecken during the liberation of Flanders. After the war he returned and married her, the stories of his grandfather Kenneth heard mostly through his own father. The stories about his grandfather made Kenneth realize that his grandfather risked his life at a young age for their freedom, this is how he came up with the gin " The Taste of Freedom ".
For the development of the gin, a real London Dry Gin was chosen with 8 herbs, the herbs that came from all the countries where his grandfather had fought. Coriander from Egypt symbolises the Battle of El Alamein, rosemary from Italy comes from where he fought at Monte Cassino and juniper from Germany. In short, the best flavours of the world in one bottle," Kenneth says.
The bottles of gin are packed in crates that resemble the ammunition boxes his grandfather no doubt saw many of. 1944 bottles have been bottled and part of the proceeds will go to the non-profit organisation Kindsoldaten 1944, which stands for the year in which Belgium was liberated.