Top Gear's James May joins forces with Gold Coast distillery Wildflower Gin

Gold Coast-headquartered, award-winning distillery Wildflower Gin will sit in co-pilot seat with Top Gear host James May, reaching an exclusive agreement to custom manufacture and distribute the British TV personality's gin in the Australian market. 

May partnered with Wildflower Gin due to the prohibitively high costs of shipping products to Australia, which made his James Gin unaffordable for many customers.

Committed to creating a "Gin for the people," May faced challenges in keeping his gin accessible and reasonably priced for his Australian fans, and partnering with Wildflower Gin allowed him to overcome these logistical and financial hurdles.

"G'day cobbers and sheilas Down Under where women glow and men chunder, apparently," May said in a video addressing his Australian fans.

"You've been buying some of my award-winning gin. Thank you very much for your custom, but there have been a few problems - one of them is you're too bloody far away, so transport costs are ridiculous. The second is that your government obviously hates you because the excise duty is also ridiculous," he quipped.

"Now, we can't do very much about the second thing, but the first one we can. We're delighted to announce a partnership with the Wildflower distillery."

James Greig, the entrepreneur and founder of Wildflower Gin, has always had a vision of creating a spirit that captures the essence of the Gold Coast. His journey began in his backyard with honey from his own beehives serving as a unique botanical in his gin, and his pursuit of excellence has garnered the brand it numerous awards and a loyal customer base.

Greig was also keen to try May's gin, so he ordered some online, enjoyed the taste, but experienced firsthand how expensive it was to import directly from the UK. He decided to reach out to the celebrity, who explained other fans had given similar feedback.

Impressed by Greig's record, May agreed to have him make a trial batch according to the James Gin recipe, and once that was sent to the UK for tasting and the packaging was replicated here in Australia, the deal was given the green light. 

The exclusive agreement will see James May's gin being sold alongside Wildflower Gin’s products in bottle shops, restaurants and bars across Australia, in a move that is expected to not only broaden Wildflower's market presence but also enhance its reputation as a leading player in the craft spirits industry.

Whilst its own branded products capture the essence of the Gold Coast, May's James Gin wanted to reflect an entirely different mixed provenance, describing his gin as featuring "nutty, sweet parsnip, redolent of the damp soil of the English countryside, and that sparkle of spices that will have thrilled anyone who has travelled in India or South-East Asia, or had a takeaway".

"Ever since my mother gave me some as a baby, I’ve been fascinated by the taste of gin," he said.

"Much later in life, I bought half a pub, and was struck with an idea: what if I created a gin of my own, to serve to the customers?"

Wildflower Gin's founder points to significant challenges in the Australian craft spirits market, including high excise taxes and rising living costs. Grieg says these pressures have ed many craft companies into voluntary administration, with Mighty Craft being the most recent example.

Despite these hurdles, he remains optimistic.

"The current economic climate is tough for many craft producers. However, partnerships like the one we've formed with James May can help us navigate these challenges and continue to thrive," says Grieg, who co-founded venue management tool iVvy and  software-as-a-service (SaaS) web tools developer Bloomtools.

As Wildflower Gin continues to grow, Greig remains dedicated to his community and the craft. He recently founded Burleigh Craft, a non-profit association aimed at promoting the Gold Coast suburb of Burleigh as a destination for craft enthusiasts - an initiative that underscores Greig’s commitment to fostering a vibrant, collaborative community in the region.