The Drop Above the T, the Symbol of a Journey That Changed Our Lives.
- 1 day ago
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Some details may seem small, yet they hold enormous stories. In our logo, brand identity, and across all our bottles and products, the water drop above the “T” is not there simply as part of the design. It represents the origin of everything, a deep search for a place where water, nature, and time could come together to create spirits with true meaning. Long before arriving in Patagonia, Andrea Zavala and Mark Abernethy were living in Antwerp, Belgium, working in strong corporate careers and enjoying a comfortable life in Europe. But while the world moved quickly around them, they kept dreaming about something completely different, creating one day the finest whisky possible in the heart of pure nature.
By Tepaluma Press
As passionate lovers of fine spirits, they understood that great distillates do not begin in the bottle, they begin at the source. Water, climate, silence, surroundings, and a deep connection to the land are all essential parts of the final result. That dream grew stronger over the years, together with the desire to build something authentic, far from the industrial world and close to something truly wild. Along the way came the vision of creating world class mixers and a gin capable of capturing the real aromas, flavors, and sensations of nature itself. Then they made a decision that made little sense to many people, they sold everything they owned and set off with their 12 year old daughter, carrying only three suitcases and a tent, without knowing exactly where they would build their distillery.
After two years traveling through Chile, the journey finally led them to the Carretera Austral in Chilean Patagonia. There, they found something difficult to describe with words, pure wild water, ancient forests, constant rain, mountains, silence, and an untamed landscape that seemed to contain exactly what they had been searching for all those years. In that remote territory, they began building Tepaluma, facing isolation, logistical difficulties, and one of the most challenging places imaginable to start a business. But they also found inspiration. Every river, every leaf, every season, and every distillation began teaching them how to capture the territory inside a bottle.
Personal archive of the Abernethy Zavala family.
And so, in 2018, Tepaluma® Gin, “Spirit of the Forest,” was born, the first major step toward a much deeper purpose. Gin allowed them to learn from Patagonian botanicals, understand the rhythm of nature, refine distillation techniques, and build a distillery intimately connected to its surroundings. Over time came international awards, exports, and new creations such as Tepaluma® Maqui Gin and the aged gin “Spirit of the Caesars,” yet the original purpose never disappeared. The dream of whisky is still alive and continues to guide every decision they make in Patagonia.
That is why the drop above the “T” represents far more than water. It represents movement, transformation, resilience, and purpose. It is the symbol of a family that left behind certainty in order to pursue a vision deeply connected to nature. And it also represents something that continues moving forward to this day, the journey of Tepaluma, a project born from pure water, Patagonian forests, and the belief that great spirits always begin at the source.
We named the distillery “Tepaluma” in honor of the local nature, pure, vast, and vibrant, exactly as we had dreamed it. This spirit, born from a longing for authentic flavors and natural luxuries, has found its expression in our values, in the essence of our products, and in the transformative experiences we create.
We want you to enjoy flavor, nature, and the great adventure that life truly is. Enjoy Tepaluma! Andrea Zavala, co-founder of Tepaluma.
As an anecdotal detail, earlier this year, during one of travel influencer Rosi Guimarães (blognosnochile) visits to the Queulat Hanging Glacier, she captured on camera our symbol marked on the rock, a unique light effect from that very moment that deeply inspired us. You can watch the video here:
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