cocktails

Ginvent 2016 – Napue Gin

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img_9676Not going to lie – I’ve never heard of today’s gin. After a bit of research, it turns out Napue Gin is a small batch gin from the Finnish Kyro Distillery Company using rye grain as the base spirit. This gin won the inaugural IWSC Gin & Tonic trophy, so fingers crossed it’s good! (Side note: I was telling boy about this gin and pronouncing it in a variety of ways, then it appeared on Sunday Brunch and is apparently pronounced “Nap-we”. So there we go.)

img_9679The bottling notes say it is “nose rich in meadow sweet, citrus, cumin and juniper” – hinting at a tangy and spicy flavour. Combined with the rye base, I’m expecting an earthy tone to the gin. Giving it a good sniff, it certainly smells earthy. Deep and cinnamon-y, it smells very nice.

It’s tangy on the front of the tongue, with a smokey taste lingering in your mouth. It’s ever so slightly sweeter than I thought it would be. Mixed with tonic the sweetness comes out a bit more. It’s quite drying, but this simply means you need another mouthful. Oh what a shame. This is a treat. It’s slightly more special than your standard gin, but ‘normal’ enough to have an evening of it. Plus a bit. Not too shabby for day 11.

img_9680You can buy a bottle of Napue Gin on Masters of Malt for £34.95 – which I think is pretty reasonable – and they’re over on Facebook here and over on Instagram.

Have you heard of Napue Gin? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter or Instagram!

Keep up to date with Ginvent here.

 

Ginvent 2016 – Makar Old Tom Gin

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img_9660Welcome to day 10 of Ginvent! Today features a world exclusive taste of a brand new gin – Glasgow Distillery‘s Makar Old Tom Gin. The original gin has been around for a while, with distilling in Glasgow going back as far as 1770 and the Glasgow Distillery Company opening in 1825, launching their reborn Makar Glasgow Gin in 2014. The Old Tom Gin is the newest addition to this family, despite being a gin steeped in history. Am I the only one that loves the mystery around Old Tom Gin? Knocking on a wooden cat sign to receive a shot of gin poured down a pipe during prohibition times?

img_9661“Ooo that’s piercing”. Good start to this gin. I think it smells a bit like a fruit cake. Mixed with tonic, it smells like a nice, mellow gin. The juniper comes to the front, but slightly sweeter. “It’s weirdly kind of…hang on I need another mouthful…mmm…just kind of tastes quite happy”. I think I’ve broken the boy. I think it tastes perfumed, not too heavy on any botanicals but well flavoured. A hint of sweetness stops it being too heavy. I think mixed into a cocktail this gin would come into it’s own. As a straight forward G&T (with no garnish) it’s not the most exciting thing to ever enter my mouth.

img_9662You can grab yourself a bottle of the Old Tom Gin on Master of Malt for £35 which I think is fairly priced – perhaps not for me but then again I’ve not tried too many Old Tom gins. Perhaps a future blog post? Who wants to send me some samples?

You can find them on Twitter and Facebook, and let me know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram.

Catch up on Ginvent over here.

Ginvent 2016 – Elephant Sloe Gin

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img_9643img_9645It’s day 9 and we’ve hit another gin I’ve already tried (there’s only about four in the whole of Ginvent) – it’s Elephant Sloe gin! I got this as a sample with my Craft Gin Club delivery a few months back and it is lush. Rather than entirely repeat myself you can check out the full taster here.

Catch up on Ginvent here.

Ginvent 2016 – Tarquin’s The Seadog Navy Strength Gin

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img_9633Let’s start week two of Ginvent with a gin that excites me – I tried Tarquin’s gin a long time ago thanks to my father so ramping it up to navy strength is a good prospect. Bottled at 57% instead of the usual 42% it certainly smells more intense. I gave it a sniff, and it whacks you in the face and burns your nose out. Quite a shock to my lazy afternoon.

img_9634Mixed with tonic, it smells very juniper heavy. It’s tastes fairly savoury, I think adding some rosemary wouldn’t go amiss as a garnish. Doesn’t taste as strong as it smells, but the warmth running down my throat says otherwise. I found it very sippable and could happily settle in for an evening with this. Unlike NB’s 57% gin which knocked me out after one drink. This is easy going, despite it’s strength, but have enough flavour to make it stand out.

img_9635You can find a bottle of navy strength gin on Masters of Malt for £40.52 a bottle. Whilst I’m not certain I would go out of my way to buy this, it certainly is a good addition to the collection.

You can find Tarquin’s on Twitter and Facebook, and I’m around for a chat about gin on Twitter and Instagram. Did you miss week one of Ginvent? Catch up here.

Ginvent 2016 – Bertha’s Revenge Irish Milk Gin

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img_9620It’s the end of week one of Ginvent! Today I get to try the gin with easily my favourite name: Bertha’s Revenge Irish Milk Gin. The Irish team behind the gin (Ballyvolane House Spirits Company) were interested in using whey alcohol as a base spirit and after hearing Charles Maxwell’s (Head Distiller at Thames Distillery) approval on the subject they headed home to get experimenting. By batch 19, they’d got it. As of 27 April 2015, Bertha’s Revenge was born. Key ingredients are orange and grapefruit, with a liberal amount of childish enthusiasm and love – hopefully those last two flavours really come out in the tasting!

img_9621Cracking open the bottle, it smells lovely. Considering I know there is a lot of orange in it, it smells great and I’m very excited – the cumin and cardamom come to the front and it smells like a welcoming, gentle curry. Tasting it neat, the spices are clearly a main ingredient, it’s warm and earthy. Mixed with tonic (still sticking with Tesco) it’s incredibly flavoursome. It tastes of an incredible spice blend, not hot spicy but warm earthy cinnamon. Whilst I think it would go brilliantly with ginger beer with tonic it comes to life. I can’t work out what the whey base spirit brings to the party (sorry team) but this is brilliant. If you’re looking for something to jazz up your evening, this will do the trick. “That sip tasted like a fancy sausage roll”. Move over Catriona, the boy is the new taste tester on this blog.

A 70cl bottle of Bertha’s Revenge costs £35.84 on Master of Malt. Personally, I think it’s worth it. Unless you like boring gin, in which case stay away.

img_9622You can get in touch with the team via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Let me know what you think about this gin on Twitter and check out my photos on Instagram – and keep up to date with Ginvent here!

 

Ginvent 2016 – nginious! Smoked and Salted Gin

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img_9585As the first week of Ginvent draws to a close, I finally get to try nginious! Smoked and Salted gin. Alongside traditional juniper, bitter orange and coriander there’s quince and ginger. The Swiss distillery also add 40-hour cold smoked chestnuts for a gentle smoky flavour, and stone salt from the Swiss Alps that has been smoked on larch tree boards. This is rather special gin as it is only produced once a year with 3,000 bottles being created in 2015. The full sized bottles are also rather lovely – we know I’m a sucker for a nice bottle.
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Smelling it from the bottle I’m confused. It is smoky and salty. Almost slightly fishy. In the glass it’s just as confusing. I’ve had ‘savoury’ gins before that smell herby, but the salt is confusing. I didn’t try it straight because basically my body recoiled in horror from the smell. Adding tonic calms it down a bit and it doesn’t taste like it smells – luckily. But it’s definitely smoked. Like a smoked fish kinda smoke taste. I can’t taste the salt, for me the smokey flavour is overwhelming. I imagine this would go brilliantly with ginger beer or in a dark cocktail. But right now, this isn’t working with just tonic (and as this is the only sample I have I guess I’ll never know). Never thought I’d say that about a gin!

The rarity of this gin means the price is a bit higher than the usual craft gin – on Master of Malt a 50cl bottle is £48.64. Personally, I shan’t be investing. 

nginious! are on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

img_9587Let me know what you think on Twitter and Instagram, and catch up on Ginvent here.

 

Ginvent 2016 – Slingsby Gin

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img_9562We’ve made it to day 5 and are treated to Slingsby Gin. When I tried this at the Brighton Gin Festival it stunned me to silence – a hard thing to do. Their website opens with a Charles Dickens quote, as if I couldn’t love them more. Based in Harrogate, Slingsby has a long history when William Slingsby discovered the unique properties of the Tewit Well spring water in 1571, giving the town Spa status and this gin a name. The key botanicals are grown locally, and combined with other ingredients in Yorkshire – although some ingredients are imported from around the world.

img_9564It smells just as I remember. Juniper with a hint of fresh rain and lemon. It’s tangy on the tongue with a nice warmth to it. With tonic it’s perfect. I can’t say much more. I love this gin. And I’m happy I still love it. But really sad that it’s only a teeny tiny bottle. To anyone reading this and wondering what to get me for Christmas: it’s this gin please.

A bottle of Slingsby gin is currently £39.95 on Master of Malt and you’ll be fighting me for a bottle, and you can find them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

What do you think? Let me know on Twitter and Instagram, and don’t miss a day of Ginvent by clicking here.

Ginvent 2016 – Strathearn Distillery Heather Rose Gin

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img_9529Day four brings us a gin from what is probably Scotland’s smallest distillery – Strathearn Distillery. Situated near a village in Perthshire, they produce a range of spirits including single malt whisky, and, more importantly – gin. Four gins to be precise. For a small distillery they must be BUSY. Our gin today is the Heather Rose gin, a gin produced in very small batches of just 280 bottles. In the bottle is has a dark yellow colour, which by some witch craft apparently turns pink when mixed with tonic.

img_9530Straight from the bottle it has a very strong nose to it – it gets right to you. Heavy on the juniper. Straight on the tongue it’s like a whiskey, that’s a bad bad idea. A bit too strong and earthy for me.

Adding tonic hasn’t changed the colour. It’s still a dehydrated wee colour. The tonic makes it fresh and fruity. Very lemony and citrusy with a deeper juniper edge at the back of the throat. I can’t work out if I like it or not. I think I do, it’s reminiscent of Burleigh’s with a woody hint to it.

A bottle of Heather Rose gin is currently £29.95 on Master of Malt. Personally, it’s not for me.

They are available on social media on Twitter and Facebook. Have you tried it? Let me know what you think on Twitter and Instagram.

Don’t miss a day of Ginvent and catch up here.

 

Ginvent 2016 – City of London Christopher Wren Gin

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img_9510It’s Saturday! Day 3 of Ginvent brings us the City of London distillery’s Christopher Wren Londom Dry Gin. City of London distillery produces a range of gins including an Old Tom and a Sloe gin – I’ve heard of them before but never had the chance to try them. London is obviously steeped in history for gin, being home of Mother’s Ruin and the Gin Craze – and indeed inspiring my favourite image of Gin Lane and the crazy drunk mother dropping her baby off a wall. A relatively new distillery, City of London opened in December 2012 and they now have five gins in their arsenal.gin-lane

img_9511It certainly smells zestier than the last two days of gin – sweet orange is a major botanical in this gin which worries me as we all know I hate orange. Fresher than yesterday’s heavy Strane gin, it’s certainly more citrusy than before. Drinking it straight from the glass I pick up the orange straight away, the boy manages to notice is is more citrusy but not specifically orange. It’s alright. I’ll make him do this more often and he’ll learn.

img_9512Sticking with the standard Tesco tonic, the orange isn’t as obvious and the flavour becomes more general-citrus – the lemon comes to the front. Boy likes this (probably because he isn’t a freak that hates orange). We both love lemon so this is a good gin.

A 70cl bottle (at 45.3%) is currently £41.95 on Master of Malt.  Personally, I’m not convinced I would pay this much for a bottle as it’s not my favourite gin ever, but I’ll certainly keep an eye out in a bar and give it another go.

They are also all over social media and you can find them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Let me know what you think of Christopher Wren on Twitter and Instagram – and don’t forget to check out the rest of Ginvent over here.

 

 

Ginvent 2016 – Strane London Dry Gin, Merchant Strength

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img_9471 Day 2 is here (again, a bit late because I went to see a musical…) and bestows upon us the Merchant Strength version of Strane Gin. Made by the established Smögen Whisky distillery on the west coast of Sweden, batches are made in a 100 litre still making it very small batch indeed. The Merchant Strength gin is bottled at 47.4% – if that’s not enough for you they also produce a Navy Strength (57.1%) and an eye watering 76% Uncut Strength. Even I think that sounds like a bad idea waiting to happen!

Smelling it from the bottle, it’s not as strong as yesterday’s Half Hitch gin. Boy think’s it is fruitier, I’m less convinced. Mostly because I’m not sure what a fruity gin would be like.

img_9472Tasting it, it has more of a kick to it on the tongue but a more rounded flavour than Half Hitch. The flavour feels more complex and slightly smokey – a flavour I image that is coming from their whisky heritage. Boy thinks the flavour is “harsher and more short lived”. I have no idea what he is talking about, he isn’t a gin drinker. Sticking with the trusty Tesco tonic (obviously not because I’m drinking multiple day’s gin in one night), it’s not quite as smooth as I thought it might be. I think the deeper notes are staying, making it heavier than a normal gin and tonic. My favourite thing about a G&T is that it is light and refreshing. I like a dry drink more than anyone, but this isn’t a dryness so much as a depth. Nosing on their website shows the botanicals include mint, basil and sage alongside almonds. This explains the savoury edge.

Strane Gin’s Merchant Strength costs £39.45 for a 50ml bottle over on Masters of Malt (at time of writing). Personally, I’m not convinced this is the gin for me. But I’ve also only had a small tasting and I’m sure I could change my mind after a second serving (as I often do).  They are also available on Twitter.

What do you think of the Swedish export? Let me know on Twitter and check out some photos on Instagram.

Keep up with Ginvent here.