spirits

Clover Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

Note: I met Clover gin at Imbibe Live and they were kind enough to give me a sample for the blog.

Clover gin hail from Belgium and have a lovely bottle. That’s kind of why I got chatting to them at Imbibe. A soft round bottle with a simple design – it’s a winner. The product of an eight month journey for three sisters, the gin features coriander, juniper and cardamom as a base, topped with pear and lavender for a perfumed finish. The secret ingredient? Clover (get it? from the name). Like the three sisters, the three leaved clover adds something unique to this gin. They suggest the perfect serve comes with fresh coriander leaves and a slice of ginger.

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One Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

Note: I met One Gin at Imbibe Live and they were kind enough to give me a sample to try for my blog.

One Gin is produced by multi-award winning master distiller Sarah Thompson (a local gal from Blackdown spirits in Sussex). As a brand, they’ve been selling water and soft drinks since 2005 – if you haven’t heard of One Drinks before, they put some of their profits into helping the 663 million people around the world that don’t have access to clean drinking water. Over 2 million people die every year from a waterborne diseases and thousands more – usually women – are trapped in a cycle of needing to walk miles to the nearest clean water supply. One “Sage” Gin uses 9 botanicals which are distilled in a London Dry style, then the gin is further distilled with their signature fresh sage, foraged from the distillery’s grounds. One Gin have the aim of raising £20 million for water projects by 2020, so if you like your gin to have an ethical mission, then this is the one for you.

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Wicked Wolf Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

Note: I emailed Wicked Wolf gin and they kindly sent me a sample for the blog. As usual, you’ll know if it’s not quite the one for me.

Wicked Wolf gin hails from Exmoor; using 11 botanicals the gin is distilled on the banks of the River Lyn by husband and wife team Pat Patel and Julie Heap. Made in a copper still, the gin is blended, filtered, bottled and labelled by hand in 100 litre batches. The gin is bottled at 42% and features traditional botanicals juniper, coriander seeds and cardamom pods with the more exotic kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and hibiscus. Currently, unless you live in the Devon/Somerset area it’s a bit tricky to find in a pub or shop (although you can find it in Twenty One Wines in the Laines, Brightoners), but it is available online.

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Helsinki Dry Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

When I was at Junipalooza, I got chatting to the team at Helsinki Dry Gin and they kindly gave me some samples to bring home for the blog. The Helsinki Distilling Company come from, you guessed it, Helsinki (that’s Finland for those of you not very good at geography). The distillery, that has formally been a power plant, a meatball factory and an architect’s office amongst others, produces a whole range of products. Winning the Spirit of the Year award in 2016 AND 2017 is the Helsinki Dry Gin. Distilled with Finnish lingonberries, Balkan juniper berries, fennel and rose petals, the gin is a traditional 47% volume to achieve a smoother feel. They also make an Akvavit (a Finnish schnapps), Applejack (a 43% strength apple spirit), the pink grapefruit Long Drink, some gin liqueurs and Tyrnipontikka. I have no idea what the last one is or how to pronounce it. So we’ll move quickly on.

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Curio Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

I went to Junipalooza last weekend on World Gin Day and I bumped into the folks from Curio gin. After gushing about their branding and having a chat, they kindly gave me a bottle to review properly on the blog. Curio Gin comes from Mullion in Cornwall – a mere 30 minutes from my Dad’s house (Happy Father’s Day Dad!) and has one of my favourite bottle labels ever. Their range includes the Rock Samphire Gin, a Cardamom Vodka, a Cocoa Nib Vodka and their Cornish Cup. Hand foraged on their local cliff tops, the rock samphire is blended and distilled in small batches.

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Warner Edwards Honeybee Gin

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It’s June which can only mean two things – it’s nearly World Gin Day and I’ve got a Craft Gin Club delivery! Firstly can I say how much I’m enjoying the new branded boxes guys – they look SO much chirpier than the old plain ones! Secondly, this is a bumper box. We have the world exclusive look at the new Warner Edwards Honeybee gin. That’s right, they have chosen the lucky Craft Gin Clubbers as the first people to get their hands on the new addition to their Botanical Garden range. Also in the box is a miniature of their Elderflower Gin, a bottle of Franklin & Sons Lemon Tonic, a bag of Burts Firecracker Lobster crisps and a bar of Mighty Fine Dark Chocolate and Honeycomb. Nom nom nom.

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Kelso Gin Company

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

Note: I contacted the Kelson Gin Company and kindly sent me THREE samples of their gins. As always, you’ll know if I don’t like them.

The Kelso Gin Company brings us the first gin from the Scottish Borders. Well, technically they make three gins. Because why start small? Oh, and as well as three gins they also have a vodka and reiver spirit too. Two of their gins are named after The Crow Man – a travelling medicine man who toured the Borders offering “little brighteners” to restore men and soothe women with his mix of secret ingredients. Using organic pure grain and distilled in Kelso, their exact ingredient list is a closely guarded secret (which should make tasting them fun) but the ones they’ll allow us to know include Love Parsely (aka Lovage), juniper and rowan. I have three gins: Crow Man’s Gin (classic juniper with cinnamon, angelica and more), The Kelso Elephant Gin (strong on flavour and using orient spices) and the Lovage Gin (intriguing and fresh).

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Kirkjuvagr Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

Note: I contacted the Orkney Distillery and they kindly sent me a sample. As always, I’ll let you know if I don’t like it.

Kirkjuvagr gin comes from the Orkney Distillery – and FYI, is pronounced “kirk-u-vaar”. Kirkuvagr means “church bay” in Old Norse and evolved to be Kirkwall, the island’s capital. The gin is a reflection of the island’s history and the boldness of their ancestors, making a contemporary gin using old ingredients. Angelica grows wild on the island, which is blended with Ramanas Rose, Burnet Rose and Borage and Orkney barley. Distilled in small batches in copper stills, they channel their Norse heritage into every bottle they make.

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Wild Island Botanic Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

Note: I emailed Wild Island to see if they would send me a sample and they kindly did. I’ll let you know if I don’t like it.

Wild Island Botanic Gin is produced by Colonsay Beverages in the southern Hebrides on the Isle of Colonsay – home to just 120 inhabitants. Distilled with 100% British wheat, it is then infused with 16 botanicals – six of which are sourced locally including lemon balm, wild water mint, meadowsweet, sea buckthorn, heather flowers and the yummy sounding bog myrtle* (Moaning Myrtle spring to mind for anyone else?). The gin was launched in December and has already sold four batches of their gin – but I’m feeling like this is pretty special to have got some outside of Scotland. Wild Island Gin are another Scottish gin to use a beautifully designed label – it features an expressionist watercolour interpretation of the local Kiloran Bay (fun fact: you can buy Harris Tweed lampshades to match the bottles).

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Juniper Green Organic Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

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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