Entry #01 – We Weren’t Supposed to Do It Like This

Entry #01 – We Weren’t Supposed to Do It Like This

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Some people start spirits brands with years of industry experience, big budgets, and airtight distribution plans.

We started with an idea, some quality humans, and no real idea how we were going to get it into people’s hands. All we knew is that one day this would all make for a great story.

And that's where we're at – the first part of the story. The establishing shots, the discovery and character setup, the initial plots points all falling into place.

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Everything’s Changing (Constantly)

There are parts that feel bizarre right now, ever changing, even how we are selling the gin. 

We started with the idea of a subscription model, every quarter rolling out a new flavour – and that is still our dream, to explore something new every quarter – but it turns out doing that from day dot is incredibly hard!

So we've pivoted a little bit to sell out one adventure at a time – each adventure funding the next exploration (and bringing the subscriptions once we're nailing that).

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Finding the Right People (Against the Odds)

We also thought we'd struggle to find people who wanted to help us create such unique, small batch gin, when there are so many people out there trying to fill the gin space.

I personally thought anyone in the production space would just roll their eyes and think "here comes another bunch of eejits that think they can make something worthwhile..."

But we have had nothing but the greatest support from people inside the industry, and a range of experts ready and willing to help us produce exactly what we wanted.

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Fulfilment = “By the Skin of Our Teeth”

And of course there is the actual fulfilment side...

Right now, shipments are being packed on late nights after full-time jobs, getting out the door as soon as one of our many explorers can action them

Ad hoc would be the polite way of saying it. "By the skin of our teeth" is the reality! 😅

I'll take this moment to send a big thanks to all our first adventurers who put down a deposit, stuck with us through our delays, and are now supporting us with new releases as we keep improving every day.

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“Strategy” in Three Time Zones

To add to the chaos, our team are all explorers by nature. This means we're always travelling and our “strategy meetings” often involve 3+ time zones, browsers full of tabs, and a frantic list of to-dos we’re somehow already behind on even though our next adventure is still in the planning phase.

(Sneak peaks into our first ideas coming soon...)

Now apparently, we’re supposed to hide all of this... chaos? We’re supposed to look polished. Established. Like we’ve always known what we were doing.

But that’s not really what Wildfire is about. Not what we wanted to create.

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Why We’re Called Wildfire

We called it Wildfire because we wanted to build something that felt real – inspired by an incredible character, with incredible courage.

We wanted to inspire new stories. Trying new things. Exploring further. Getting out of comfort zones when everything these days is so uniform.

We didn’t want to pretend we were the 17th generation of a distilling dynasty. We wanted to start something that people could feel part of. Help steer the direction of. Be part of that story.

Something that made you want to pack a bag, light a fire, pour a dram, and go somewhere – something to spark exploration and new stories.

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Rulebreakers by Nature

Now to do that, as you can imagine, we’ve already broken a few “rules.”

Rule #1: Don’t launch without everything in place.

Yeah… we didn’t do that.

We launched with two gins – one limited release, one signature bottle – and a basic website.

No PR agency. No investors. No perfect product photography. No big “campaign.”

Just a belief that we we could make something worth sharing, and the kind of story that could spread if we stayed honest and built it from the inside out.

Somehow, people have still been able to find us. People have bought our gin. And people did in fact receive it and love it! (Keep sending your feedback in, we've loved hearing it: info@wildfiregin.com)

Rule #2: Don’t talk too much about the messy bits.

But that’s the real story.

People are smart. They can tell when a brand is polished to the point of it loses all character.

We’d rather be real, exactly as we are.

That means:

• Sharing when we’re scrambling to pack boxes fast enough
• Showing you the behind-the-scenes of sourcing botanicals, or testing new blends we’re excited about
• Being up front when something doesn’t go to plan (like our subscription model or our shipping deadlines)

Because the truth is we’re not a big brand with some generational backstory – we’re a new story. And as I said earlier, this is just the first exciting act.

Rule #3: Stick to your lane.

Naaahhhh. I don't really think so.

We’re not just trying to make great gin (though we are obsessed with doing that – sorry if that point hasn't gotten across strongly enough, but we are all OBSESSED with gin.)

We're going to make this fun, make this an adventure, make this something we can all enjoy. Go beyond the standard recipes and online funnels and explore every idea we can together. Heck, we're not even entirely attached to gin, I mean we love it and it will always be our focus, but we're chatting through other ideas too - rum, schnapps, pisco...

When it comes to sticking to our lane, we'd rather break that rule and build something bigger:

• A brand that encourages people to explore – the outdoors, new rituals, new tastes, new ideas
• A product that connects with people through stories and settings, not just cocktail recipes
• A community of curious, creative, adventurous people who don’t want their drinks (or their lives) to all be the same

We want to partner with makers, adventurers, storytellers. We want our gin to come with a bit more meaning – not just botanicals and a PR twist.

And in time, we want to host real-world gatherings in wild places – fires, rivers, hills, hideaways – to share with you all incredible stories, and bring you further into ours.

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So what’s next?

This logbook is going to be one way we stay connected as we build this thing, one way we keep track of the story as we go.

We’ll post updates. Thoughts. What we’re experimenting with. What worked. What didn’t (and definitely a few of the mistakes we make along the way.)

But mostly – where we are going, and why.

Because this isn’t just about what’s in the bottle. It’s about everything around it – the story, the spirit of exploration we want to spark in every one else.

If you’re here for that… welcome! You’re in early. The fire’s only just starting. Grab a seat, pour yourself a dram and get ready for one wild story.

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Jimmy McLellan, The Wildfire Storyteller