IL Dottore Gin is distilled in Italy, typically described as coming from a small, family‑run distillery that blends traditional methods with a modern flavor profile. Messaging around the brand emphasizes Italian craftsmanship and Mediterranean character rather than the traditional London Dry template.
Episode Transcript
Welcome to Beverage Chronicles. I'm Gary monterroso my co host
Michelle Lamb is off this week. She'll be returning shortly.
Each week. We bring you the latest beverage news plus
smart consumer tips to help you buy better, whether you're
choosing beer, wine, spirits, or zero proof options. I'm going
(00:26):
to dive into what's new, what's noteworthy, and what's worth
bringing home. This is Beverage Chronicles, and I'm gonna get
right into this. We have an interview with three people
representing a relatively new product that is making the scene,
actually nationally seeing some positive responses. It's an award winning beverage.
(00:46):
We're going to tell you all about it. And after
that interview ends, I want you to stick around because
we have somewhat of a programming announcement that we're going
to be making. So let's get started on Beverage Chronicles.
We like to present new beverages, new concepts, some ideas
for you to think about, and perhaps products for you
to try. And there's one that's come across our way
(01:08):
that's getting a lot of favorable publicity. And this is
an Italian craft gin called Il dottri, which literally means
the doctor. This is known as a I'm going to guess,
a citrus forward type gin with a contemporary dry style,
smooth texture, and I know it works well with some
classic cocktails. One thing I know about this particular gin
(01:30):
is that in twenty twenty three it gains some really
powerful industry recognition, including gold medal at the Bartender Spirits Award. Again,
that was in twenty twenty three, So this gin is
positioned as a premium sipping gin and a versatile mixing spirit.
I have three guests in the studio with us today
and I'll introduce them one at a time. Agnes, let's
(01:50):
start with you. Introduce yourself, Agnes.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I'm Agnes, and I am I would say a serial entrepreneur,
although because spirits is my passion and I've been in
I mean I've been in the spirits business for more
drinking than I think selling for a really long time.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
So people ask me why did I come up? Why
do why did I create a It's because I do
love drinking.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
So are you being very candid with us? And we
love that, Ludovica, how are you?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
I'm very good.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
You tell us about yourself.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
I'm Italian, as the gin and I joined. I am
responsible for all marketing initiative.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Excellent and Brian Jackson, Hi, Brian, Hey Gary.
Speaker 5 (02:33):
Thanks for having us. My name is Brian. I came
from the music world. Long before I was ever in Spirits.
I toured in Europe. I functioned as a DJ over
there and one of the takeaways that I had was
I fell in love with the nightlife, bar culture, cocktails,
which brought me to the US where I kind of
got in with Agnes and the team here. And you know,
after a long time in retail, we started developing brands.
(02:54):
Il de Tod was a passion project and we love
to keep working with that.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
That is a great story. I didn't really realized that
you did some DJ work overseas. It's amazing, very cool. Now.
This gene, as we mentioned, is distilled in Italy, and
this is to any of you three, this is a
small family run distillery. Is that correct?
Speaker 4 (03:12):
I can reply to that. When we start thinking about
our gene, we wanted a gene that was meant to
be shared, and so when we start looking for partners
in various locations for possible distilleries, we wanted to choose
a distillery or a place that would also respect our values,
(03:32):
and the values is the one to get people together.
And that's why we went to Italy, and that's why
we choose a distillery that our family run and small
Botch because that's also where we felt home. And that's yeah,
that's the idea behind the gene.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
What is the lodge now? The name is il Dottori,
which means the doctor. What is the relationship between that
name and doctors? Physicians? Tell me the connection?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Well, I think during the run Sance period, gin used
to be considered a medical medicinal tonic and it was
used in everything that would knock out supposedly a lot
of sicknesses. So that was really where the concept of
ilduti and gin coming from a doctor came from.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
This gin is not like a let's say, more traditional
London dry gin.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Correct, Yes, it's not.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
It's a little under it's softer, and we did a
little less juniper in it, and Brian can actually speak
to the botanicals that we used. But we actually wanted
something that could be easy to drink. But most people's
reaction to gin is always like ooh, this smells like alcohol,
and I wanted something that people would smell and taste
(04:47):
and say, oh, this is interesting.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
So that's what we created with this gin.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Why not about that? Get into the bat absolutely so ilbatore.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
We prioritize having a softer, more rounded profile, which low
juniper has Agnes mentioned. It's still there. From my years
in retail, I can tell you the number one thing
that I've always heard when it comes to gin is
it smelled like a Christmas tree. So our gin decidedly
does not smell like a Christmas tree. So we have
a lot of floral notes. We added elderflower, sage flour.
It really kind of works well with the muted juniper.
(05:20):
There's some familiar friends in their elderflower, sorry, angelica, root
and nutmeg, so we have a pretty rounded nose and
just taking a sip, I mean it's a great gin
to sip by itself. It's soft, it's friendly. When I'm
tasting people in store, my favorite way to tell them
is it's got like a really light cereal grain with
like a great citrus finished. We made it accessible. We
(05:41):
made it for anybody. Even if you don't like gin,
you'll find something you like in this bottle.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Now that that is a great explanation because gin is
one of those polarizing type beverages. Do you hear people
say either they like it or they really can't stand it? Yeah,
absolutely true.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
We do hear a lot of that, and normally, and
the first time I started showing the bottle to be
outside of the fact that people loved the bottle, that
was the only way that some of them would even
consider trying it, because the moment you say Gin, they
would bring up a very bad experience with gin. So
kind of had to for not force them, but say
(06:17):
but you've got to try it. And so far I've
had people who don't like gin at all say that
they actually liked this one that's in a hot fail
and on its own.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Get back to what I mentioned at the beginning of
the show, we talked about the gold medal that you
guys won at the Bartender Spirits Awards. What did that
mean for the team and for the product?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I mean, it was great because for me, the intention
was really to create a gin that.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Could create great cocktails.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Also because I knew the gin wasn't very easy to drink.
I mean I loved it and I would drink it
in every form, but for many people it's just not
very easy to drink.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
So when we created this, I.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Mean, of course it was you know, we always say
born in Italy, made for the world, because the idea
is with the gin, you could mix it with anything
really that comes from the world, any ingredient, and the
Bartender Spirits Awards kind of proved that point that it
was easy to mix in a cocktail.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
If I had to put you on the spot and say,
give me a cocktail and a desert island cocktail to
make with this gin, what would you say.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
A desert island cocktail, Yeah, to be made with the gin.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Let's see, it depends on what island though. So if
we if we were in the if we were.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
In the Philippines, and which is where I'm from, so
supposedly right now Filipinos are the number one drinkers of
gin in the world.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Oh my, I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
So if it were in the Philippines and I run
a desert island, I would hope that there is a
fruit called a colum on sea and it would actually
mix very well with the gin, so it'd be like
a it would almost be like a Tom Collins type, Okay, cocktail, So.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
That's what I would do. How about in Groi well
and Negronie too. Yes, absolutely, that's my favorite cocktail.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Okay, And how about working with chefs? Have you done
any work with chefs in either pairing the gin with food?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yes. So when we did a dinner last year and
we were kind of introducing I was introducing the gin
to some people. It hadn't we hadn't officially launched it yet.
I had asked a friend of mine a restaurant down
on eighty seven Ludlow, and I asked him, I challenged him,
and I said, look, you're a Filipino, here's an Italian gin.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Do you create your magic? Find a pairing? And he
created ten ten dishes for that paired with the gin.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Wow? And how did that go over?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Very well?
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Now, in my world, which is craft beer, we occasionally
do pairings of different foods with beer, and one that
we've done in our industry is chocolate pairings with beer.
Have you done anything like that with your gin?
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Yes, we have.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
And actually it was at that same event that we
did last year where I suggested that let's do something
non traditional, let's spare the gin with chocolate. And I
actually worked with a chocolate company in New York, also
with Ben owned, and she comes up with like these
fabulous chocolates and was able to find the perfect pairing.
(09:16):
So she found six chocolates that paired very well with
the gin.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Oh well, that's absolutely amazing. I bet the audience was
blown away by that. Huh.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
They were really surprised. Nobody ever thought of bearing a
gin and chocolate.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Absolutely, Holy caw. I think you've kind of addressed this,
But let's let's talk about myths surrounding Gin. What is
there something to throw this open to any of you three?
Is there a myth about Gin that you'd like to
bust on the air right now?
Speaker 5 (09:43):
I touched on it previously. The gin tastes like Christmas trees.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah not.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
We love the scent of pine, but gin definitely does not.
It's such a broad diverse category that we kind of
always say, hey, you just haven't found the right one yet.
And even from working from the brand I started out
in whiskey, I fell in love with Gin in Louisville, Kentucky,
of all places, because at the end of doing barrel picks,
I'd be so exhausted a whiskey I'd go to the
(10:09):
bartender and say, hey, what do you got that's different,
and it would be Jin, and I absolutely fell in
love with it once you take the time, you know,
once I took the time to experience it in different cocktails.
So the biggest myth it does not have to taste
like a Christmas tree.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
And that was one of the hang ups for me personally.
Jin was one of the last spirits that I really
got turned on to because I had always been put
off by the as you said, quote Christmas tree comparison.
But I found one several years ago, and I'd be
darned if I can remember what it is that I
really really enjoyed because that taste, that fragrance was kind
(10:43):
of muted a bit.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
Yeah, there have been some great entries over the years. Empress,
which is one that comes to mind. I found was
a great entry point for a lot of people. It
was a lighter Gin, but what they did was they
use the butterfly pea plant extract tom and change colors.
And I find now when I'm dealing with customers that
it's actually an easy reference point because a lot of
people that experienced Gin through that this kind of builds.
(11:06):
We have the palette, but we don't have you know
that this is the more elevated version of that style
of GIN, and we find a good connection point just
through referencing, Hey, we're sweeter gin, We're a lighter GIN.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
I do ask you about this. You are very much
into supporting charities. Can you explain? Can you tell us
a little bit about some of the work you do
with different organizations.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Yeah, so ildotoijin twenty five percent of the profit right
now goes to support anti human trafficking causes and autism awareness,
partly because for me, these causes are the closest for
me because as a Filipina many there are many people
that work around the world and are subject to a
(11:49):
lot of human trafficking. So I just decided I wanted
to create awareness around that. And on the autism side,
a lot of my classmates in high school, one specific
that I'm very close to, you know, she was worried
about like how am I What's going to happen to
my son when I pass away? So her, you know,
her journey was actually what has inspired me to put
(12:13):
some of the funding that hopefully we hope generate as
the business grows into causes like that to be able
to support them, to support autism people who suffer from autism,
you know, for a longer period of time.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Oh, that's congratulations on that. I know. I have a
couple of friends from the Philippines and they just went
through another massive typhoon over there. Yes, and you know
we our prayers and thoughts are directed toward them. So
I think that's remarkable what you're doing. Thank you for
doing that. What is next? What's next for the company?
Old Tori looking at any maybe new surprises releases coming
(12:49):
down the road.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
Well, we'd like to continue our Global GIN designation and
kind of get out there a little bit more so.
We have our eyes set on EU UK for twenty
twenty six. And a couple fun things that I can
tease is we have something in the works around one
of our favorite cocktails, which is an Alo strawberry cocktail,
(13:10):
So we have something in the works inspired by that.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
And we also have yeah, we also have a color
Uncuzu liquor that we are working on as well.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
If people are interested in getting more information or purchasing
the product, give us give us some help there.
Speaker 5 (13:27):
The easiest way would be through our Instagram. We have
a link in the bio through the spirit shop dot
com where we have Ilda Tore. We ship to most states.
I think it's something like forty six through our distribution partners,
and that will also give you a lot more information
about our charitable endeavors with the bottle supports. But that's
the best direct way to get a bottle of Vildatore
(13:48):
for now.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
That is excellent And Ludovica and Agnes and Brian, we
really thank you for joining us on Beverage Chronicles. Congratulations
A on the product and b on your charitable work
and I applaud you for all of that. Yes, thanks
for joining us. That's Eel dot toy Jin. Take a
look for it because it's really starting to make its
(14:11):
mark all around the country now, I promise it. At
the beginning of the show, we're going to have a
bit of an announcement, and that is that we are
going to be adding a video element to Beverage Chronicles.
So we're going to be setting up a YouTube channel
for Beverage Chronicles with short little segments and we'll be
uploading them every so often. I expect this is going
(14:33):
to begin around the first of the year, and another
place where you're going to be able to find us
is through our resilient radio stream outlet located in Michigan,
and we thank them for kind of planning the idea
in our heads and we talked about it, all of
us and we decided it might be a pretty good idea,
So look for that after the first of the year.
And that's it for this week's episode of Beverage Chronicles.
(14:54):
Gary mount ros A saying see you next week.
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