The Ginbrin Story: A Karst Gin Born a Hundred Metres from the Table

A hundred metres from the table where you'll drink it, the juniper it's made from grows. Ginbrin didn't choose the Karst for the story — the Karst is the only place this gin could have existed at all.

What is Ginbrin?

The first officially registered Slovenian craft gin: London Dry style, 43% ABV, nine botanicals including Karst juniper (the lead note), elderflower and acacia, hand-picked in the Brkini hills. It's made at a small Karst distillery in Rodik — the same village that's home to Gostilna Mahorčič and Hotel Josefina.

An important distinction: Ginbrin isn't the same thing as kraški brinjevec. Brinjevec is a protected spirit (EU geographical-origin status since 2008), distilled purely from juniper berries — an older, different tradition. Gin, even Karst gin, is something else: neutral spirit flavoured with botanicals, of which juniper is just one of nine.

Why is it good?

Ginbrin won gold at the Gin Guide Awards London in 2018 (traditional category) and scored 90 out of 100 at the IWSC in 2019 — international competitions that judge gins alongside established European brands in the same category.

Ginbrin in the wider picture

Slovenia's craft gin scene has grown from roughly five distilleries in 2018 to about twenty today. Alongside Ginbrin, worth noting are Broken Bones (Ljubljana, Distillery of the Year 2022) and Santei Skrasa No. 19 (nineteen hand-picked Karst botanicals) — each with its own voice, but all built on the same conviction: that the Karst has a flavour worth distilling.

Where to try it

Best at the table — Ginbrin pairs naturally with the food at Gostilna Mahorčič, where Karst flavours meet a Karst spirit in the very village both come from.

Republika Rundictes is an independent land of flavour, stone and wind. Capital: Rodik.