Day four is upon us and with that comes The Teasmith gin. Founded in Aberdeenshire, their unique botanical is hand picked tea, which they say gives it a minty, sweet finish. The team behind Teasmith wanted to create a gin which celebrated the area they are from, an ethos that seems to link together the new Scottish distilleries. Did you know that James Taylor from Auchenblae (north east Scotland) was the first man to create a tea plantation in Sri Lanka? Seemingly his work there made the island the tea growing paradise that it is now, and the Teasmith team use loose leaf black Ceylon tea from there. All of that history and tradition is bottled in one of the nicest looking bottles on your shelf. But that aside, how does it taste?
hove
Ginvent 2018 – Manchester Wild Spirit gin
It’s day two here on the #ginvent blog and today we are drinking Manchester Wild Spirit gin. I’ve tried Manchester gin before but not this version. The Wild Spirit gin is inspired by the woodland walks around Manchester. Taking their signature gin as a base, they remove the orange and lemon and replace these with the deeper, herbal notes from sage, thyme, lemon balm and a hint of woodland with silver birch. Manchester gin is fairly synonymous with dandelion and burdock, and this stays in this edition to give it a warming note midway through before a crisp finish.
Ginvent 2018 – 58 Clearly Sloe gin
IT’S DAY ONE OF GINVENT 2018! Here we go again for a third year running. Sorry liver. To kick things off we are trying If you’ve read my blog for the last two years you might have seen my two previous blogs on 58 Gin – their normal gin here and their navy strength here. In those posts you can learn more about 58 Gin, because today we are looking at their sloe gin, and you’d be forgiven for looking past this bottle to try to find the sloe gin. Sloe gins that we know and love are a rich, deep purple colour. This one? Not so much. Rather than seeping sloe berries in a bottle of gin as per the standard method, the berries are included in the distillation process which apparently allows all the flavour, but none of the colour. So, does it actually taste like a sloe gin?
Ginvent 2018 – Tarquin’s Tan Ha Mor gin
Anyone that knows anything about the Gin Foundry calendars knows that Tarquin’s is ingrained into everything they do. One of the first to be involved with Junipalooza, they have also been featured in every Ginvent calendar since the beginning (you can read about their Cornish Dry, Seadog and British Blackberry). This year is no exception and we get to try a brand new and exclusive gin, the Tan Ha Mor. So what makes this gin unique? Working in collaboration with our favourite Gin Foundry folk, they built two firepits on their local beach and smoked English oak chips with coriander, juniper, pink grapefruit and oranges which had previously been smoked in seawater. These were then left to macerate in their Seadog gin before being bottled at 50.5% ABV – the co-ordinates of the beach they roasted the botanicals on.
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.
Ginvent 2017 – Bathtub Gin Old Tom
Here we are at day 23 of ginvent and today is a day I am particularly excited for. Today we try the Old Tom gin from Ableforth’s Bathtub gin collection. Ableforth’s Bathtub gin is probably one of the most iconic brands on the market with their distinctive brown paper wrapping, and I’ve tried their traditional version here. I really like Old Tom gins, so this should be a treat, 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.
Ginvent 2017 – Bishop’s Special Edition Gin
Last year during Ginvent we sampled Bishop’s Gin and you can learn more about it here. I was lucky enough to be one of the few that received the special edition gin as not everyone did due to production issues. However, the special edition gin is marmalade flavoured. And we all know how much I LOVE orange… so this should be fun… Continue reading
Ginvent 2017 – 6 O’clock Gin
Happy Day 6 of Ginvent! Today we’re sampling 6 O’clock gin… which I’ve tried already (review here). So that’s today’s post nice and simple. Also, did you see what they did there? Day 6 is 6 O’clock Gin. Clever.
A bottle of 6 O’clock gin is currently on Master of Malt for £31 and you can find them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Ginvent 2017 – Tarquin’s British Blackberry Gin
You know it’s ginvent when you get to this year’s edition of Tarquin’s. I’ve already been lucky enough to sample their original gin (here) and their Seadog Navy Strength gin (here). For 2017 we are trying their British Blackberry Gin which combines gin and blackberries as well as some Cornish wildflower honey to add a touch of sweetness. I tried this at Gin Foundry’s Winter Wonderland event last week in a cocktail which was a twist on a Bee’s Knees with lemon and honey and it was delicious.