The other day I told you about my good gin friend Cherry Constable, today’s gin is courtesy of the awesome Rev. Mary Hawes. Empress 1908 original indigo gin hails from Canada and is a vibrant blue thanks to an infusion of butterfly pea bottom – making the colour 100% authentic and natural. The addition of citrus or tonic turns the gin to a soft pink. Now, I’ve tried some colour changing gins before and been entirely unimpressed with the flavour which leaves the colour change just as a gimmick to me. However, I’m always open to having my opinion changed. The gin features eight botanicals and is traditional in flavour with notes of juniper and grapefruit at the front. Continue reading
spirits
Glorious Gin
You may have read before that I think Cherry Constable is a great friend. And I am right. Another postal delivery bought a sample of Glorious gin – no, I’m not just fawning over it already, that’s the name. Hailing from Breuckelen Distilling in Brooklyn, they make Glorious Gin – distilled from a wheat spirit distilled with grapefruit, ginger and fresh rosemary – and an oak aged version alongside a series of whiskeys. The list of botanicals intrigues me – juniper, lemon and grapefruit peel are all pretty usual, but adding ginger should give it a bit of fire, and the rosemary should balance it with a more herbal nose. One of their suggested cocktails is a twist on a Tom Collins which is garnished with thyme leaves.
Elg No.1 Gin
Happy March! Along with the snow, March brings us a delivery from Craft Gin Club yay! This month’s delivery includes a bottle of Elg No.1 Gin all the way from Denmark, along with a bottle of Franklin & Sons light tonic, a bottle of Newton’s Appl Fizzics, a jar of Bonne Maman marmalade, a bar of Divine dark chocolate and hazelnut, and a bag of Pipers jalapeno and dill crisps. Yay to being snowed in for the weekend! Elg gin comes from a place of science, founder Henrik used to be a biochemist. The unusual thing about this gin is that it only uses three botanicals. Juniper, coriander seed and danish carrot. Yes, carrot. Apparently the distilled carrot enhances the juniper, and that was Henrik’s aim. He looked back at historic recipes and wanted his gin to truly taste of the piney juniper. Despite the lack of botanicals, this gin doesn’t lack flavour or complexity – apparently it starts bold with tangerine, black pepper and lemongrass before mellowing to a creamier, earthier note. And at 47%, it should have quite the punch! They also produce No.2 Old Tom gin, No. 3 Navy Strength gin and No.4 colour changing gin.
Gin Lane 1751
This blog is a shout out to one of my favourite gin people – Cherry Constable. Not only is she lovely and super knowledgeable about everything, she also sends me gin in the post, yay! Today we’re talking about Gin Lane 1751, as the name suggests they take inspiration from the Victorian style of gin which favours juniper berries, liquorice and citrus. Their lineup contains four gins – a London dry, the ‘Victoria’ pink, the Old Tom and a 47% Royal Strength. Today we’re drinking the Pink and Old Tom gins. Both 40% ABV, the pink gin follows in the Navy’s footsteps by blending gin with herbal and spiced bitters – a trick that supposedly cured sea sickeness – and the Old Tom which ramps up the star anise and adds a touch of sugar with a softer, sweeter profile. Continue reading
Distiller’s Tonic
Today I continue my quest to explore the world of tonic water with Distillers Tonic. I tried their tonic in the tonic taste here (which you can read here). Distillers Tonic was owned by Bramley & Gage (of 6 O’Clock gin) but was sold to a group who want to focus on bringing out the best of every gin. They expanded the range and now have two tonics: Original, the clean, fresh tasting tonic which is low in sugar and balances the natural quinine with lemon and lime; and Dry which has half the calories of the original with only a trace of sugar.
6 O’Clock Brunel edition gin
Another day, another gin. To those that finished Dry January, I salute you. To those that didn’t…that’s probably why we are friends. Today I am drinking 6 O’Clock’s Brunel Edition gin. I should admit I stole a sample of this from one of my visits to Gin Foundry…but I did ask for permission first! I’ve tried their London Dry before (which you can read here) and this edition is distilled with even more juniper and six new botanicals – plus has had a limited bottling run.
Thomas Dakin Gin
You’ve probably already heard of Thomas Dakin gin, and I’m sure you’ve seen the red square bottles on the supermarket shelves before. But did you know that they’ve been distilling since 1761? Thomas Dakin was just 25 years old when he started making gin in Warrington. Considering the reputation that gin had at the time, Thomas Dakin continued experimenting and innovating and is now widely considered as the forefather of modern British gin. His daughter-in-law Margaret become the world’s first female distiller, his son was friends with the Greenall family, fast forward 250 years later and Thomas Dakin Small Batch gin is launched. Thomas Dakin gin is juniper led with big hits of orange and infused with root botanical red cole – a member of the horseradish family.
Loch Ness Gin
What feels like forever ago, I was very lucky and won a bottle of Loch Ness Gin from Master of Malt during their #whiskysanta giveaway. And with an amazing amount of self restraint, I haven’t cracked into it. Until today. The husband and wife team come from a family that have lived and worked in the Highlands since before 1520 and they hand gather their own native crop of juniper for their passion project. In fact, it’s not just the juniper that is hand picked. All of their botanicals can be found on the banks of Loch Ness, and their branding is phenomenal because I love Loch Ness. The film with Ted Danson was a childhood staple, and we spent a dreadful family holiday touring around Scotland – one day of which was spent Nessie hunting on my insistence. Give me a myth and mystery around something ridiculous and I’m there. Continue reading
Hoxton Gin
It’s January! After the madness of Ginvent and general December frivolities, I’ve been taking a bit of time away from the blog to recharge. That and I’ve got a hacking cough. Yay January. But back to the gin. My sister got me a bottle of Hoxton Gin for Christmas. I have to admit, I wasn’t the most thrilled when I opened it because I know the main flavour is coconut which I’m not a fan of, and haven’t heard the best things about it. But it’s also heavy on the grapefruit which I do love. So let’s give it a go. Continue reading
Batch Gin
It’s December! Which means one thing…it’s Craft Gin Club delivery time. Now you may have noticed that this post is coming rather late, but I had enough gin to get through with #ginvent so I’m only just getting around to this. This month’s delivery comes from Batch Gin, along with two bottles of Fentiman’s tonic – one rose lemonade and one ginger ale – some Paterson’s shortbread, a bar of Beech’s Ginger Dark Chocolate and a jar of Bonne Marman Salted Caramel spread. Batch Gin is distilled in Burnley and features festive botanicals including frankincense, myrrh and allspice plus cloves, orange peel and lemongrass. Working from a converted windmill, the family team are adventurous – their plan for 2018 is to release a new product every month. Like most brands, founder Phil dreamed of starting up his own business, which was actually a brewery at first. Then he got annoyed at the sheer number of craft beers on the market. So he settled on that other tiny market – gin (although they have since made a vodka and have a rum ageing in barrels as I type).