Bloody Oath: a new gin from cyclist and F1 duo lands in SA
Olympic cyclist Tiffany Cromwell and F1 driver Valtteri Bottas are in Adelaide for the Tour Down Under and introducing their gin brand to the state.
When Adelaide-born Olympic cyclist Tiffany Cromwell started dating her partner, Finnish Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas, their go-to drink order was often a gin and tonic.
The spirit became a common interest in their relationship, which led to the development of their label OATH about three years ago.
“We’re fortunate to travel to all corners of the globe, so that became a thing where I would find a local gin and bring it back, he would find something, or when we’re travelling together, we’d try the local distilleries, drinking the local gins,” Tiffany says.
When first brainstorming a name, they wanted to go with “Sisu” a Finnish word meaning inner strength and determination.
“It’s the equivalent of, like, Aussie grit, where it’s just something that you’re born with, you have, that you can kind of overcome hard times, and you know, you’re not easy to break,” Tiffany says.
But Sisu was a common word and heavily trademarked, so back at the drawing board OATH was born.
“We liked it because it’s used in so many different ways,” Tiffany says.
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“You have oat in the word, and we distil with oat so it was a nice kind of crossover, but an oath is something you can use, when you take an oath and you can also play with it for the Australian market – bloody oath for example. So there’s some funny twists like that.”
OATH gin uses apples and oats for a unique flavour profile. This picture: supplied.
OATH first launched in Finland, where it’s distilled, and it took a bit longer to bring the brand to Australia due to differing alcohol regulations and Australia’s high excise taxes.
Launching in South Australia was important to the duo as they enjoy spending time here, and because of Tiffany’s connection to the Adelaide Hills.
“We wanted to create something unique that represented both Valtteri, myself, in our background, in our countries,” Tiffany says.
Their Finland distiller got creative with flavours, using apples to represent Tiffany and oats to represent Valtteri.
“We identified that growing up in Adelaide Hills, we’re quite known for our apples,” Tiffany says.
“As much as we’d love to use them, I think it’s just the logistics and cost of shipping a whole crate of apples from Australia to Finland doesn’t really make sense so we would love to, but we also have to be realistic of cost, freshness and everything else, so we use apples from Finland.”
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The gin is vacuum distilled with oats relating to Valtteri family oat fields and uses Finland’s spring water which is the world’s purest. The result is a mellow base with floral, spicy and fruity notes.
Tiffany says oats create a smooth taste, and they’re using it rather than a traditional grain.
“That was our goal, to have something good enough that you can sip on just as a straight spirit if you like that, but tasty enough without being too overpowering as a gin and tonic.”
This picture: Morgan Sette
In South Australia, Hanhndorf-based Ambleside Distillers is the home of OATH gin, after they became good friends with the distillers.
“It was when Valtteri first came to visit me, Ambleside was one of the first places I took him,” Tiffany says.
They’ll take part in a sold-out meet and greet at Ambleside on January 26 to launch the gin, after Tiffany and Valtteri round out a week at Tour Down Under.
The duo will take part in RADL GRVL, which they help organise, this Friday, January 24 as part of fun events in the TDU.
“What’s nice with gravel is it’s super approachable, for example, where you have the professional racing for the amateur, it’s not really well integrated with each other, whereas with gravel, that’s what it’s all about, you have the pros racing with the amateurs,” Tiffany says.
While Tiffany races with her team CANYON//SRAM, Valtteri also enjoys racing to keep up his fitness when he doesn’t have his Formula One racing to focus on.
Tiffany says it’s special to bring RADL GRVL to Adelaide for a second year, being able to race on home ground.
“People go there just to enjoy the day, some go there to challenge themselves for a course time, some go there to race as hard as they want for a result.
“It’s just about getting people on bikes, sharing common interests, and creating that really nice community that cycling has about it.”