New Order: Peter Hook creates Haçienda acid house gin with Manchester distillery

Peter Hook, the co-founder of Joy Division and New Order, has partnered with Manchester Gin on a small batch spirit celebrating one of the city’s most infamous music venues.

The gin, called FAC51 The Haçienda, is named after Manchester’s Haçienda, one of the most sought-after music venues for acid house fans during the 1980s and 1990s.

The FAC1 Haçienda, bottled at 42% ABV, uses botanicals such as lemon and lime peel, which Hook said is a nod to the acid house movement, as well as locally-foraged dandelion and burdock root.

Hook said he wanted the ingredients for the gin to tell “a story of the Haçienda.”

“I love the reference to acid house and smooth notes,” he said, but added: “I had to leave the final tasting and approval to my wife.”

The first two batches have been made available in limited-edition bottles featuring FAC51 inspired artwork.

The labels have been assigned their own ‘HAÇ’ numbers used in place of batch numbers (any later designs will have new HAÇ numbers). HAÇ13 uses yellow and black hazard stripes – a key part of Haçienda’s design – as its label backdrop, and HAÇ15 uses its “Use Hearing Protection” poster image.

Master distiller Seb Heely said the project was “an amazing opportunity to bring together two iconic Manchester brands, new and old.

“While our gin is relatively new to the city, we wanted to pay tribute to a cultural movement so, this partnership is a perfect way to celebrate the past, present and future of Manchester.”

Hook isn’t the first UK music icon to work with a local distillery this year. Mark Knopfler, the former frontman of Dire Straits, launched his own olive oil-infused gin with London’s Portobello Road distillery in March as part of a series of product launched themed around “Local Heroes”.

The gin comes with an RRP of £36 per 50cl bottle. Current stockists include Manchestergin.co.uk, C&C Wines, Quoff, Harvey Nichols and Houseofmalt.co.uk.