What does a landscape taste like?

A conversation between mountain gins, from Andorra to Australia’s high country

There is a particular approach to gin making that has been the founding force of Gindu.

Not the approach that borrows a landscape for a pretty label. Not the approach that adds a native botanical as a token gesture. And not the approach that relies on a ‘craft’ story while avoiding the harder work of sustainably sourcing, distilling and balancing real native ingredients from distinctive landscapes.

The most compelling craft gins answer a more exciting question:

Can you capture the taste and sense of a place in a glass?

That question sits at the heart of Gindu. It is why our range is built around Australian landscapes, native botanicals and flavour profiles that are designed to evoke place, not simply decorate it. It is also why a recent visit to FORA in Andorra felt so relevant to the way we think about our Gindu Landscape gins including our recently released Alpine Gin.

FORA is a young distillery in the Pyrenees, founded by Soraya Spiers and her partner John. Their ambition is direct and powerful: to create a gin that tastes like Andorra.

As Soraya put it during our conversation, it is not simply about using local ingredients as a claim. It is about creating “a flavour profile that captures the landscape.”

That distinction matters, because in a crowded gin world, provenance can too easily become a marketing word. A landscape-led gin has to do more than name a place. It has to translate the character of that place into aroma, texture, balance and finish.

From the Pyrenees to the Australian high country

Andorra and Australia’s high country are worlds apart.

One is a small mountain country in the Pyrenees, shaped by steep valleys, alpine forests, Mediterranean influence and a deep culture of foraging. The other is vast, ancient, diverse and distinctly Australian, with its own high-country botanicals, seasonal extremes and unmistakable sense of place.

Yet the conversation between FORA and Gindu felt immediately familiar.

Both brands are asking how a gin can express altitude, terrain and season. Both are interested in the way botanicals carry memory. Both are trying to make spirits that reward curiosity, rather than simply offering another variation on citrus, spice or juniper.

For FORA, Soraya described a flavour world built around wild Andorran juniper, red pine, rosemary, basil, thyme, sage, citrus, Arbequina olive and local heather honey.

The gin is designed to carry both mountain and Mediterranean character. Pine and juniper provide structure. Citrus lifts and balances. Olive adds a subtle salinity and mouthfeel. Honey, when distilled, loses its sweetness but leaves behind floral notes and waxy texture.

For Gindu Alpine, the inspiration is different, but the ambition is closely related: to create a gin that speaks to Australia’s high country, not through cliché, but through flavour.

That is where landscape-based gin becomes truly interesting. It is not about two distilleries making the same kind of gin. It is about two different places asking the same creative question and arriving at distinct answers.

Landscape is not an ingredient. It is a discipline.

The romantic version of craft gin is easy to understand: distillers walk through beautiful country, gather botanicals, and somehow the landscape appears in the glass.

The reality is more demanding. Soraya spoke candidly about the work behind FORA’s use of local botanicals. Foraging is slow. Sorting is manual. Drying, processing and storage all matter. She explained that it can take two hours to forage four kilograms before the real work of triage and preparation begins.

That kind of work raises an important point for any landscape-led distillery: authenticity has to scale carefully.

It is one thing to forage by hand for a tiny batch. It is another to build a reliable, premium product that can grow without exhausting the landscape or diluting the original idea.

Sustainable use of botanicals is not simply about taking less. It is about knowing what to take, when to take it, how to preserve it, and how to design a recipe that respects the natural variability of living ingredients.

Soraya described pine as one of the clearest examples. Pine is not a static ingredient. In summer, it can be full of resin and sap. In winter, its intensity shifts. The distiller’s task is not to pretend those differences do not exist, but to adjust carefully so the gin retains its intended profile.

It’s a similar story at Gindu. Australian native botanicals are not interchangeable flavour inputs. They come from real environments, with real seasons, supply constraints, ecological considerations and cultural significance. Used well, they can create extraordinary depth and distinction. Used carelessly, they become a novelty.

The future of landscape-based gin depends on distillers treating botanicals as more than flavour notes. They are part of a place, and they need to be respected as such.

Why “terroir” in gin is different from wine, but still matters

Wine has long had the language of terroir: soil, climate, altitude, aspect, rainfall and human craft all contributing to the identity of what ends up in the glass.

Gin is different. It is a distilled spirit built through selection, extraction and blending. The base spirit may come from one place, the botanicals from another, and the final flavour is shaped heavily by the distiller’s choices.

But that does not mean gin cannot express place. It means the expression is intentional.

A landscape-led gin is not simply the result of where it is made. It is the result of a distiller asking what defines a landscape aromatically, texturally and emotionally, then building a spirit around that answer.

In FORA’s case, that means a Pyrenean expression: wild juniper, red pine, Mediterranean herbs, citrus, olive and honey.

In Gindu’s case, it means exploring seasonal transformation from winter snow to summer wildflowers, and distilling that contrast into the bottle: cool mountain air, native herbs and the crispness of a fresh mountain stream.

The best landscape-led gins do not taste like every botanical in a list. They taste resolved. They create an impression that is greater than the ingredients. They should make you feel ‘somewhere’.

Craft is the bridge between place and flavour

A strong place story will attract attention. But only craft can sustain belief.

That was one of the strongest takeaways from the FORA visit. The story is compelling, but it is the technical choices that make it credible.

FORA uses a blend of wild Andorran juniper and Macedonian juniper. Soraya explained that foraging enough local juniper to make every batch entirely from Andorran juniper would not be feasible at their current scale. More importantly, each juniper source brings a different quality: the Andorran juniper is more fruity and less resinous, while the Macedonian juniper is creamier and more resinous. Together, they create a fuller profile.

That is an important lesson in authenticity. Purity of story should never come at the expense of quality. The role of the distiller is to make intelligent choices that honour the idea while delivering the best possible gin.

The same applies to the way FORA uses olive for mouthfeel, honey for floral softness and waxy texture, and citrus to lift and balance pine. These are not decorative ingredients. They are structural decisions.

At Gindu, we think about our gins in the same way. The story matters, but the liquid has to carry it. A landscape gin should still be balanced, expressive and enjoyable. It should work in a considered serve. It should reward tasting neat, over ice, with tonic, or in a cocktail.

A beautiful origin story may earn a first taste. The craft earns the second.

Why this matters for Australian gin drinkers

Australia has one of the most exciting craft gin scenes in the world. We have access to extraordinary native botanicals, diverse landscapes and a growing audience of drinkers who want more than a familiar international style.

But that also creates responsibility. Not every gin with a native ingredient is a landscape gin. Not every local claim creates genuine provenance. Not every botanical list translates into meaning.

The most interesting Australian gins are the ones with a clear point of view. They understand where they come from. They understand why their ingredients matter. They are not chasing difference for its own sake; they are using flavour to tell a more grounded story.

That is what's exciting about Gindu Alpine Gin. It invites Australian gin lovers to explore high-country inspiration through a gin made with intent: a gin that is fresh, expressive and connected to landscape, while still being crafted to drink beautifully.

It also invites a broader question of the category: when we choose a gin, are we simply choosing a flavour? Or are we choosing a way to experience a place?

A richer way to drink gin

Another reason landscape-based gin is so exciting is that it changes how people drink.

It slows the conversation down. It encourages people to taste before mixing. It makes the garnish more meaningful. It gives bartenders a story to build around. It gives drinkers a reason to compare, explore and advocate.

A gin inspired by the Pyrenees does not need to taste like a gin inspired by Australia’s high country. In fact, it should not. The value is in the contrast.

FORA offers one version of mountain expression. Gindu Alpine Gin offers another.

Together, they point to a more interesting future for craft gin. One where distillers are not simply adding more botanicals, louder flavours or increasingly abstract claims. They are using gin as a way to interpret place.

That is a future worth drinking to.

Explore Gindu’s landscape-based gins

Gindu has developed a range of landscape gins to express the full diversity of Australia. It is an invitation to explore place, season and story through the glass.

Discover the range and find the landscape that speaks to you.