Cuckoo Gin

Note: I contacted Brindle Distillery and they kindly sent me a bottle of Cuckoo gin to try. This won’t influence my tastebuds though.

Based in Lancashire, Brindle Distillery produce Cuckoo Gin – a gin with sustainable and ethically-sourced botanicals and named after a local legend. The Brindle Cuckoo hails back to the middle ages when hearing the first cuckoo’s call of spring led to celebrations that the fertility of the land would reward the farm workers. So, obviously, the locals decided to catch one to keep in the village to bring them luck all year round – except the cuckoo was smart and flew off. Now, anyone born and bred in Brindle is known as a Brindle Cuckoo. They keep this theme running with locally grown botanicals from the surrounding fields and their natural water source delivers spring water straight to the distillery. Being ecologically minded doesn’t stop there; they heat their still, Maggie, with renewable energy biomass boilers and they feed any distilling byproducts to their cattle and chickens. They say their gin is smooth with flavours starting at juniper and developing to citrus, spice and pepper. Let’s see how it fares…

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Lakes Gin – Explorer Edition

A while ago, Lakes gin kindly sent me a sample of their delicious gin (review of which you can read here). They have a range of spirits in their collection including a whisky and a vodka. My housemate kindly bought home a bottle of their Explorer gin for me to try. This is a special edition gin produced from a single batch distillation using juniper grown in Cumbria and another four botanicals which are native to the Lake District National Park. Their original gin has 10 botanicals in total with an ABV of 43.7% and the Explorer edition bumps this up to 15 botanicals and 47.1% ABV. This gives it a long and aromatic finish with zesty, herbal notes.

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Sacred G&T

Remember the days of premixed drinks? My drink of choice as a teen was Smirnoff Ice, because I was classy. Nowadays, premixed drinks are making a comeback with all of the big brands and supermarkets getting in on the trend with tins of premixed gin and tonic (always go for the M&S pink gin FYI). Entering this market is the London-based collaboration between Sacred gin and BTW tonic. The bottle is certainly distinctive – the colour of BTW tonic comes from the use of natural quinine in their product. Sacred gin comes from the smallest commercial distillery and has quite the extensive range of flavoured gins to its name and this premix highlights the pink grapefruit to add a freshness and a bright citrus flavour.

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Two Birds Cocktail Gin

Two Birds has been one of my favourites since I was given a bottle of their London Dry gin a few years ago (and one of my first blogs) and their Old Tom gin is a delight. Today I’m trying their Cocktail Gin (as donated by Leahtheminx – thanks!). The cocktail gin is a specially distilled version of their London Dry which has ramped up the juniper but kept the 40% ABV. They say there isn’t a gin based cocktail that this doesn’t work in, but they recommend mixing with with apple juice, elderflower syrup and ice. Continue reading

Thomas Dakin Gin

You’ve probably already heard of Thomas Dakin gin, and I’m sure you’ve seen the red square bottles on the supermarket shelves before. But did you know that they’ve been distilling since 1761? Thomas Dakin was just 25 years old when he started making gin in Warrington. Considering the reputation that gin had at the time, Thomas Dakin continued experimenting and innovating and is now widely considered as the forefather of modern British gin. His daughter-in-law Margaret become the world’s first female distiller, his son was friends with the Greenall family, fast forward 250 years later and Thomas Dakin Small Batch gin is launched. Thomas Dakin gin is juniper led with big hits of orange and infused with root botanical red cole – a member of the horseradish family.

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Hoxton Gin

It’s January! After the madness of Ginvent and general December frivolities, I’ve been taking a bit of time away from the blog to recharge. That and I’ve got a hacking cough. Yay January. But back to the gin. My sister got me a bottle of Hoxton Gin for Christmas. I have to admit, I wasn’t the most thrilled when I opened it because I know the main flavour is coconut which I’m not a fan of, and haven’t heard the best things about it. But it’s also heavy on the grapefruit which I do love. So let’s give it a go. Continue reading

Ginvent 2017 – Persie Sweet & Nutty Old Tom Gin

Here we are, two days from the end of Ginvent and today we are trying Persie‘s Sweet & Nutty Old Tom Gin. I’ve tried their Aromatic Herb gin – which you can read here – so let’s see how this differs. This version is creamy with hints of vanilla, butterscotch, almonds and gingerbread. They suggest serving this neat over ice as an after dinner drink, or adding a splash of ginger ale.

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Ginvent 2017 – Sir Robin of Locksley Gin

We’ve made it to day 21 of Ginvent (three days left ahh!) and today we are drinking Sir Robin of Locksley Gin. You might not know the name, but you’ve probably seen the bottle which glows yellow/green in the light. Not quite a London dry, not quite an Old Tom, they aimed for a gin that was easily sippable, yet also worked well in a cocktail. Mixing traditional juniper with botanicals such as elderflower, cassia, dandelion and pink grapefruit, this gin sounds like it has a lot going on – but will the flavours work together? Continue reading

Ginvent 2017 – Rock Rose Winter Gin

Today is day 19 of Ginvent and today we’re trying Rock Rose Gin‘s Winter Edition. I have tried Rock Rose once, a long time ago at Dolly’s Gin Parlour in Falmouth (which, FYI, you should visit should you be in the depths of Cornwall) and I was a fan. Rock Rose hails from Dunnet Bay Distillers – not too far from John O’Groats – after 55 experiments to find the final recipe back in August 2014. Their original edition includes Rhodiol Rosea – a type of rose root local to Caithness – along with sea buckthorn and rowen berries. They have their original gin and a Navy Strength gin that are always on sale as well as limited run seasonal editions. This year’s Winter Edition is a scaled back version of their original gin, but this allows the added spruce tips (collected by Rock Rose gardener Hanna) to bring forth an earthy and citrusy note to the gin. So, let’s see how it tastes. Continue reading