The story begins (and ends), as things so often do these days, with gin: at gin tastings, to be exact. Nothing unusual about the rigorous assessment of gin, you might think, but in 1999 it most definitely was. The tasting – my database says it took place on July 25 – was convened by Melbourne bar scene legend Vernon Chalker and his business partner, Daniel Besen, at the then new and highly original watering hole The Gin Palace.

I remember the tasting not just because it was the only time I've tasted Tanqueray's "Original 1835 Recipe" Malacca and an antique (even back then) Curtis London Dry Gin, but because we were also joined by Besen's mother and father, Eva and Marc.