Fatty’s Organic Gin

Note: I contacted Fatty’s Organic gin and they kindly sent me a sample to try, but as always, you’ll know if I don’t like it.

You certainly can’t miss Fatty’s Organic gin on a shelf – the bright green bottle makes sure of that. At the heart of the brand is the need to be organic. Not just slightly organic but 100% organic. In all my drinking time, I’ve only come across one other gin that claims to be 100% organic (although please do correct me if I’m wrong) and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the next shift for craft gins. Unable to find many options, Fatty (as she is affectionately known) started experimenting in her garden shed. Living in Dulwich, dill became her primary flavour – did you know that Dulwich historically means “the meadow where dill grows”? No, me either. Fatty has worked alongside The Soil Association to ensure everything is done properly, and has been accredited by them.

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British Polo Gin

Note: I contacted British Polo gin and they kindly send me some samples, and a copy of the British Polo magazine, to try. As always, this won’t stop me being honest about what I taste!

British Polo gin is apparently the polo players’ choice of gin…and so therefore I’m going to give it a go. To be fair, I grew up in the countryside and we had a horse growing up, so I’m basically qualified to make this judgement. Founded by polo player Richard Hine, British Polo gin is 100% organic using 100% organic botanicals and base spirit (distilled from sugar beet which also makes it gluten free) which is then quadruple distilled for smoothness before being diluted with natural spring water from the land around their distillery. They make their gin in batches of just 150 bottles which contain 14 botanicals ranging from elderflower to vanilla and cinnamon. They have also launched a sloe gin distilled with British berries with additions of winter spices cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves which already has me dreaming of cosy jumpers and roaring fires.

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The London Distillery Company

At Imbibe Live I visited the London Distillery Company stand and they invited me to visit them. I had a day off work so thought why not? I met Toby on arrival in one of the many arches less than a mile from London Bridge station and discovered that he’s my kind of man – in that I walk in and he instantly offered me gin. So I started drinking and he started telling me about their gins. When founder Darren Rook had a slightly drunken discussion with former microbrewery owner Nick Taylor, they decided to make a whisky in London. Then, because whisky needs three years to age in barrels, whilst they were waiting for that to mature they thought, hey, let’s make some gin! And so Dodds was born.

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Juniper Green Organic Gin

Hi, I’m Jenny and a few weeks ago I went to a Vegan Festival. As a former vegetarian that has since seen the error of her ways and now eats steak at every opportunity, it was strange (I actually wrote about it for Brighton Girl over here). However, I did as I do best and found myself chatting to a gin maker. Juniper Green Organic Gin can trace its roots back to 1700, using over 300 years of experience to make their current blend. Juniper Green is 100% gluten free, distilled using organic and sustainable crops – the juniper is FairWild meaning that the berries from Bulgaria are collected in a sustainable way and those harvesting get paid a fair and proper wage. The angelica and summer savoury are grown in the UK by the Organic Herb Trading Company especially for this gin. The grain is made and distilled on a single estate which has been organic for 35 years. Basically, it’s good for the environment to drink it, and therefore good for you… that works right? So after a long chat with the sellers, I got myself a bottle of the 43% gin (after having a good taste of their various rums as well!).

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Lilliput Dorset Gin

Note: I contacted Andy from Lilliput gin before they launched and since their launch, he kindly sent me some goodies to try. As always, I’ll let you know if I don’t like it.

Lilliput Dorset Gin is new. Like, brand new. They started experimenting in January 2017, and by the end of April 2017 have launched their first product. I’m a big fan of their ethos and they work with an emphasis on quality, clarity and escape. They work in collaboration with local small businesses and entrepreneurs and promote their homeland of Dorset with pride. Distilled in their microdistillery using home-grown organic Rosemary, organic Basil from Egypt, organic Thyme from Spin and organic Kalamata olives from Greece, you get a sense they like the organic thing. The four botanicals are infused separately then blended together with Juniper from Bosnia (amongst a few others).

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