If anyone follows me on social media, you might have seen that I’m lucky enough to be friends with Ant (@BrimandTonic), who introduced me to Chew Valley Distillery via our gin swap in December. Through Ant we tried their navy strength, the clementine and cranberry, and the blush which raised money for the Pink Ribbon Foundation. Founder and distiller Joe had a crazy 2020. Pre-covid, he was sat with his Dad looking at the spirits range they stocked in his restaurant and decided they wanted to have a go at making their own gin. They conducted lots of research and reached out to others in the industry. One year on and they have a range of gins which have won a number of awards, including the 2021 Gin Guide Awards winner New Distillery of the Year. As well as producing three core gins (the original, the navy, and the clementine and cranberry) and the charity blush gin, Joe wanted to keep experimenting and decided to make a limited edition gin. By making a small run, he’s able to be flexible with flavour combinations (without the extra expense of branding a new bottle) and try seasonal variations. He also distils on commission, and in doing one such run he came across the blend of pink grapefruit and rosemary. Whilst it wasn’t fully intentional, he liked the result and a few tweaks and 11 botanicals later, here we are. 100 bottles were produced and the online stock sold out within a week.
Month: May 2021
Botanic Cubical gin
This bottle has been sitting on my shelf for a while as a gift from my former housemate (the one that organised gin judging awards). Hailing from one of the world’s most prestigious wineries, the Spanish Bodegas Williams & Humbert group, the gin is made in stills that are over 100 years old. The company was founded in 1877 and focused on making sherry and brandy, and in the 1960s moved towards making wine. Since then they have expanded to make a huge variety of products including gin, rum and vodka. The gin I am drinking today is made from high quality English grains, and distilled at the Langley Distillery in Birmingham to make a traditional London Dry gin. Alongside usual botanicals juniper, coriander seed, angelica root, orange and lemon peel, orris root and liquorice root, they also add almond shells, sweet orange, orange blossom, cassia bark, and Buddha’s hand lemon. Buddha’s hand is a variety of citrus fruit from Asia, shaped like a hand with a number of thin tendrils. It is less bitter than a traditional lemon, but with a lot of fragrance which makes it a great addition to cocktails.