scotland

Esker Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

Note: I emailed Esker gin asking for a sample for the blog and they were kind enough to send me some. As always, you’ll know if I don’t like it

Esker Gin
Esker Gin

Scotland might well be best known for its whisky, but the Scottish craft gin scene is booming (WSTA conveniently put together a tasting map of Scotland for anyone looking to visit some of their distilleries). Esker Spirits is one of these new distilleries set up in October 2015 and is the first in Scotland to use silver birch sap as a botanical. Esker takes it name from “a long ridge, typically having a winding course, created by a glacier” – a sight reflected in their local geography in Royal Deeside, home to Balmoral Castle nonetheless. Developed over a two year period (with lots of experimentation) Esker settled on a recipe of over a dozen botanicals – including their silver birch sap tapped from the Kincardine Castle Estate which adds a touch of sweetness to the gin.

Esker Gin
Esker Gin

I’m in love with the label of this gin – simple, clean and elegant. Designed to reflect their local area, its a modern look with a nod to tradition and heritage and including mountains, rivers, castle and juniper berries. Popping the cork, it’s a lovely smell that comes out. Reminiscent of the outdoors – not in a heavy, oaky way, but in a fresh meadow kind of way. The juniper leads the way once it is opened up in the glass. Mixed with a spash of water (tap, not fresh Scottish mountain water unfortunately) it is well balanced with flavours – a slight peppery taste at the front of the tongue and a very smooth finish. A savoury, floral note reaches the back of the nose (can floral be savoury?). Either way, it’s good.

Pouring out a proper measure and mixing it with tonic (sadly all I have in the house is Tesco), this caused me to say “ooh?” and look at the glass I had just put down. It is full of flavour without being over the top. You can certainly get hints of juniper and a certain freshness – and a sweet tinge to it which comes from the silver birch sap. I was worried it would be one of those gins where they add a wacky botanical and it ends up a bit grim, but I like this a lot.

Steve from Esker saw how much I hate orange and said that whilst garnished with orange zest is nice, he also recommends grapefruit or rosemary – but more importantly also says that they don’t enforce a certain serve and it’s up to the consumer to decide how they like it. YES! A real bugbear is a brand trying to enforce their way of serving your gin to you. So, having gone and bought a grapefruit especially for this moment, I add a small piece of zest and this highlights the citrus notes – plus the smell from it adds another dimension to the tasting experience. I also can see rosemary working well if you prefer a more savoury finish.

Esker Gin seems to be tricky to find outside of Scotland at the moment, but you can get it online from The Good Spirits Co for £36 a bottle (although out of stock at the time of writing – don’t worry, they’re in the process of moving to larger facilities to keep up with demand). I like this, I would definitely pay £36 for it. Plus the bottle will look beautiful on your shelf. You can also get in touch with Esker on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Have you tried Esker gin? Let me know your thoughts over on Twitter and Instagram.

Arbikie Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

img_0212Imma start with an apology – this is a very late blog. This came at the beginning of December, but I had enough gin to drink from Ginvent so here it is, on the last day of December. I can’t write about December’s gin in January. That would be stupid. But anyway, at the start of December I received my favourite package, my Craft Gin Club delivery. In it came a bottle of Arbikie Gin, a gin I’ve seen a lot on Twitter and wanted to try for a while. This bottle is a special batch of AK’s Gin – we’re the first to try it yo! This gin pays tribute to A.K. Stirling – the father of founders David, Iain and John. Arbikie is pretty special as it is a one estate distillery – their main gin uses a base spirit made from farm grown potatoes and botanicals are sourced on their land. AK’s gin departs from this and and uses a wheat base spirit to give it a buttery start, and adding AK’s favourite food as botanicals: honey. Joining honey sourced by a neighbouring beekeper are mace, thistle, black pepper and calamus root.

img_0213Straight from the bottle it smells good, rich and deep but nothing overpowering which in the glass opens up some fresher, lighter notes. Paired with a splash of water (can I quickly say how strange it feels doing a tasting with more than 30ml of gin, this feels like a very long process already!) there’s no nasty alcohol burn. It’s smooth and silky – the buttery finish is very clear. A hint of spice in the back of the mouth gives it a little lift and kick of flavour. We all know drinking straight gin is a terrible thing for me to do, but this is nice. Particularly on a dark, cold, misty Brighton day. Yay winter.

img_0214I’m using the tonic provided in our box – The London Essence Co. Classic London Tonic Water (all of their mixers are naturally low in calories and sugar, perfect for those being ‘healthier’ in 2017) – which on its own is actually drinkable. Especially considering it’s low sugar. Not too shabby. But onto the gin. The gin brings out some more acidic flavours, but it keeps the earthiness at the back of the mouth. A small sweetness (from the honey) balances out the woodiness. A lemon wedge (because no matter how many times people suggest using orange, I WON’T DO IT) adds a citrus note to the front of the tasting. It’s interesting. The earthy back notes certainly give it more depth, but it doesn’t have a hit of flavour up front. This might be because it’s been sat in my flat, aka the coldest place in Brighton, for a month. Craft Gin Club suggest some warm cocktails, or a cinnamon stick as a garnish which I think would enhance the flavours.

img_0215Also, DAYUM that shortbread is good. This does not lie when it says melts in the mouth.

Because this gin is super exclusive I can’t seem to find it online anywhere, but a bottle of their flagship Kirty’s Gin is currently £34.26 on Master of Malt. You can get in touch with them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Check out Craft Gin Club on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The London Essence Co. are also on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Finally, Happy New Year to everyone reading. I’ve had an awesome 2016 and I’d like to thank y’all for sticking with me. Chat with me about gin and other fun things on Twitter and Instagram. Laters 2016 xx

Ginvent 2016 – Ancient Mariner Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

img_9967As final day of Ginvent approaches, we’ve reached Ancient Mariner‘s gin. Made from 100% British grain, this gin was inspired after someone recited the famous poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” at a church roof fundraising event. Based in Argyll (I’m really refinding my Scottish routes this Ginvent!), the Hebridean Liqueur company also produce a number of whisky and flavoured liquers. This gin is bottled at a mighty 50% so I’m expecting big strong flavours today.

img_9968It smells fragrent in a herby way – “it smells like my dad’s greenhouse”. Thanks boy. In the glass the juniper comes out and it definitely smells stronger. Mum has joined us today, she just said “it smells of oranges…doesn’t it?” Mum’s partner joined in “it smells like paint stripper.” Brilliant team tonight. It certainly tastes like 50% gin, and Mum’s face is brilliant. She is not a gin drinker. Head’s up, we’re using a different type of tonic to usual. I think it’s a bit bland. Certainly junipery and gin tasting, but I’m not picking up anything special. Having a look at the Gin Foundrys twitter, the are only four botanicals. That would be why. Very simple, but nothing exciting. Yesterday’s gin was simple but lovely. This is a bit boring. Nothing wrong with it, but I think a wedge of lemon would help.

img_9969You can grab a 50cl bottle of Ancient Mariner gin for £30.86 over on Master of Malt, and you can find Hebridean Liqueur over on Twitter and Facebook.

So tomorrow is the final day of Ginvent – if you’ve missed all the action you can catch up here. Let me know what you’ve thought so far on Twitter and Instagram.

Ginvent 2016 – Porter’s Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

img_974913, unlucky for some, lucky for us Ginventers to be given Porter’s Gin. Another Scottish gin, this time from Aberdeen – already off to a terrible start thanks to terrible childhood memories of a road trip around Scotland… Nightmares to one side, this gin came from a fairly scientific and incredibly pedantic approach. Years of experimenting with botanicals and distillation temperatures led to them settling on their current recipe. Botanicals in this final recipe include cinnamon, coriander, pink peppercorn and buddha’s hand (I will obviously be able to taste this because I totally know what it is…)

img_9750Wow this smells great. A powerful juniper smell hits you right in the back of your nostrils – certainly wakes you up! A sip of it straight drives home the juniper and the cinnamon comes out a bit – warm and tangy on the front of the tongue. It’s quite intense straight (as a good gin usually is), with tonic this is just delightful. Enough flavour to excite you, not so much it’s overpowering. It’s the right balance of sweet and tart, reminiscent of sherbet type sweets. I am a BIG fan. This is brilliant.

img_9751Bottled at 41.5%, the 70cl bottle is available on Master of Malt for £31.95. This is going to be my “don’t be sad it is January” present to myself. I LOVE this.

Find them on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Do you know what Buddha’s Hand is? Gimme a shout on Twitter and Instagram and let me know. I like learning. Catch up on the last 12 days of 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 – Strathearn Distillery Heather Rose Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

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.