london dry gin

The King of Soho gin review

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

Note: I was sent this gin free of charge to review here, but as always my thoughts remain impartial. There is also an affiliate link at the end which means I get a miniscule payment if you order gin via that link.

King of Soho ginI’ve seen The King of Soho gin around before – the blue bottle with gold lettering stands out on a back bar. I also have a feeling I might have tried it before in a pub, but this is the first time I’ve taken a proper look at it. Back in 2013, Alex Robson and Howard Raymond decided they wanted to make a gin to celebrate Howard’s father. Paul Raymond was known for his risqué shows in the heart of Soho, and they designed this spirit to be as vibrant as he was. Continue reading →

Botanic Cubical gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

Botanic ginThis 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.

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Fifty Pounds Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

Fifty Pounds gin makes a bold claim. They say they are the “smoothest gin ever”. Distilled in south east London, the award winning gin is made in a small distillery and they triple filter it to achieve this smoothness. You might have seen Fifty Pounds gin before, their distinctive bottle is based on the first gin bottles from the 18th century, labelled with the batch and year it was made – possible due to the producing batches of only 1000 bottles. They keep their recipe secret but are quite open about their botanicals: Croatian juniper, coriander seeds, Spanish orange and lemon peel, and African grains of paradise amongst others. These are placed in the still with their neutral grain spirit and some water, are left to macerate then they gently heat them for the five hour distillation process. This is left for a minimum of three weeks which they say allows the essential oils from the botanicals to blend into the grain spirit. The final step in reaching their 43.5% ABV is to mix it with their neutral grain spirit and some pure water.

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