Buddies Gin

As many people experienced, lockdown led to boredom, frustration, time on our hands and an opportunity to think about our business in more detail,” explains David Montgomery. “Every Friday afternoon, my business partner Stanley Lovatt and I would have an online call to discuss our upcoming plans. Naturally, this was accompanied with a G&T, or two. “One evening we went off on a tangent and forgot to discuss business and instead, we started chatting about our favourite gins and where they came from. As two Paisley Buddies, and life-long St Mirren fans, we realised Paisley didn’t have its own gin yet and we weren’t happy about it. So, the idea for creating our own Paisley gin began to brew.” The two men were keen to show off the wonders of Paisley, the history, the heritage, and show the town in a positive light through the UK’S most popular spirit. “You might have heard of Paisley Buddies.” said David. “It’s a term used to describe people from Paisley and it creates this amazing image of people coming together to celebrate the heritage of our local town. “It perfectly fitted what we were trying to achieve. Buddies Gin is a small batch craft gin, created here in Scotland and it’s very, very moreish.” After many samples, flavours, botanicals and every fruit combination they could find, the two men had narrowed down their search for the perfect Paisley gin. “It wasn’t too taxing to sample all this gin, and we really quite enjoyed ourselves,” laughed David. “But there were three obvious favourites. So, we took them to our team of gin critics - our parents, family and friends - and got amazing feedback for one. And that’s the one we chose to launch Buddies Gin. “Gin Is traditionally Juniper-led, and we wanted to keep that traditional flavouring. However, we mixed it up a little with angelica, coriander, cardamom and cassia bark. The flavours are subtle and perfectly balanced. “Buddies is a gin for everyone – we’ve had lots of people say that they don’t normally like gin but love Buddies. I think it’s because Buddies is very smooth, yet subtle. Of course, the praise always intensifies the more glasses people drink….” With the perfect gin nailed down, the team set to work on branding and marketing but the actual launch of Buddies Gin happened by accident. “You know the kind of friend who gets very excited and is your number 1 fan,” said David. “Well, my friend Mark Rowley, fellow Paisley Buddie and star in The Last Kingdom, is that friend. I shared a picture of a bottle with him, asking for his opinion. He loved it. In fact, he loved it so much he

shared it with his 300,000 followers on Instagram. “So that was that. Buddies Gin was accidentally launched and it’s been growing ever since. Our very first order came from the Philippines. We had someone looking to buy a bottle of gin for their parents who live in Scotland. It was at this moment I The two men were keen realised our huge our gin could be. to show off the wonders “Everyone has been so supportive, of Paisley, the history, the and friendly with amazing feedback heritage, and show the and reviews. This is exactly what town in a positive light we wanted to build with Buddies: a community of people who love through the UK’S most gin. People who come together to popular spirit. enjoy a drink together. To share the experience with their families - and their buddies of course. “You can buy it on our website at www.buddiesgin.co.uk and if you want to get it straight away, we have also partnered with White Cart Company, so you can click and collect from 30b High Street in Paisley town centre. “We’ve started in Paisley; now we’re ready to take on the world. Seriously though, we’ve had a lot of interest from ex-pats in America and Canada. So, our plan is to sell internationally and put Paisley on the map. We’re proud of our town and we’re proud of our gin. Put the two together and you get Buddies Gin. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

COMPETITION Your chance to win a bottle of Buddies Gin! Just sign up to the Buddies Gin newsletter at www.buddiesgin.co.uk to be in with a chance to win a bottle of Buddies Gin. One lucky winner will be announced on 1st December 2021.