Standing on the shoulders of giants
What started with a botanist cataloguing Fiji's flora in 1860, and an engineer arriving in 1862, has become a family legacy bottled in paradise.
The Distillery Co was founded by brothers Hugh and Paul Clark, sons of Judy Clark/nee Ragg. They didn't set out to build Fiji's largest distillery – they just wanted to honor the family that came before them.
Standing on the shoulders of botanists, engineers, brewmasters, and a great great grandmother who ws a bootlegge, they started with an idea and with a lot of determnation created the distillery.
Jacob Storck, a renowned botanist who arrived in Fiji in 1860 to catalogue the islands' extraordinary flora. He walked these forests, studied these plants, documented the botanicals that would later become the soul of our gin.
He couldn't have known that over 160 years later, his descendants would be distilling spirits from the very plants he so carefully recorded. But perhaps he'd be pleased to know his work lives on in every bottle of Blue Turtle Gin.
Two years later, in 1862, Hugh Hall Ragg arrived from Birmingham as an engineer – reportedly the strongest man in Birmingham, though we suspect that detail may have grown more impressive with each retelling.
He came to build. To create. To leave something lasting in these islands. And he did – not just in infrastructure, but in the family line that would eventually create something he'd never have imagined.
The family tree grew deeper roots in Fiji through the Ragg family. Sir Hugh Ragg becmae famous as the "father of tourism" in Fiji and served in Government for many years, a keen horse man he was well respected and generous. His nephew and name sake Hugh Ragg served as General Manager of Carlton Breweries for many years, overseeing the creation of Fiji Gold – and cementing the repuation of the legendary Fiji Bitter.
"We didn't inherit this from our parents. We're borrowing it from our children. And from the generations who came before us."
Not every ancestor was respectable, and we're rather glad for that. Our great-great-grandmother Mary McCrae was a notorious bootlegger in New Zealand during prohibition.
While others were following the rules, Mary was perfecting her craft in secret, building a reputation that survives to this day. We like to think she'd approve of what we're doing – though this time, it's all perfectly legal.
We produced our first bottle just before Fiji shut down for COVID-19. Impeccable timing, really.
But while the world paused, we didn't. We refined. We perfected. We learned from every mistake. And when Fiji reopened, we were ready.
Today, we're Fiji's largest distillery. Every single drop is made here, from scratch. We don't import. We don't cut corners. From grass – the sugarcane growing in Fijian soil – to the glass in your hand, this is Pure Fijian Spirit.
We're now Fiji's largest domestic user of molasses. That's not a boast – it's a responsibility.
It represents hundreds of hardworking cane farmers who pour their sweat into this soil. When you choose our spirits, you're supporting Fijian families who've been farming this land for generations.
Just as our ancestors built their lives here, we're trying to build something that helps others build theirs.
In just a few years, we've become the house pour at most of Fiji's major resorts. We're served at 30,000 feet on Fiji Airways. And we created the GPH G&T – the signature cocktail at the historic Grand Pacific Hotel, where Sir Hugh Ragg himself once walked the halls.
We don't take any of this for granted. Every resort that chooses us, every bartender who reaches for our bottles, every visitor who takes a taste of Fiji home with them – it's an honor we try to earn every single day.
Arrives in Fiji to catalogue the islands' extraordinary flora, unknowingly documenting the botanicals that would become our gin.
Birmingham's reportedly strongest man arrives to build infrastructure and a family legacy in Fiji.
Serves in government for decades, helping establish Fiji as a world-class destination.
Hugh Ragg serves as General Manager of Carlton Breweries, perfecting the craft of Fiji Bitter.
The brothers decide to begin another adventure adding to their family legacy by starting The Distillery Co.
Production begins just before COVID-19 shutdown. The pause allows for perfection.
Fiji's largest distillery, standing on the shoulders of giants, making them proud.
Very much Pure Fijian Spirit