spirits

The Lakes Gin

Posted on by jennyinbrighton

Note: I emailed the Lakes Distillery asking for a sample and they kindly sent a bottle over – as always, you’ll know if I’m not impressed.

The Lakes Gin hails from – I bet you can guess – the Lake District. The distillery (which also features a Bistro and distillery tour) is nestled above Bassenthwaite Lake in a Victorian model farm. Water feeds down from Scafell Pike and they started with a blended whisky. Their range now includes a gin, a vodka and a single malt whisky. But we’re here for the gin. Made with 13 botanicals local to the Lake District, the gin features flavours including bilberry, heather and meadowsweet. They say the gin is “big, clear fresh citrus, fruity and floral” – that’s a lot of adjectives, so let’s see how it lives up.

Straight from the bottle it certainly smells big, fresh and citrusy. In the glass the juniper comes to the front and, mixed with water this is lovely. Very smooth and easy to drink, there is a slight sweetness on the front of the tongue, a herbal savoury note to the sides and a crisp finish at the back. No chemical or alcohol burn which is nice! There is a slight kick to it, but this is (I imagine) from it being distilled at 43.7% – slightly higher than the average gin.

Made into a gin and tonic (back to Fever Tree to celebrate the move into the new flat) and this is a delight. It is light and fresh, the citrus tones are at the front but are not overwhelming. It is very smooth and easy to drink, and leaves your mouth with a dryness that leaves you wanting more. This to me is a perfect gin and tonic, the classic drink. It is fresh but dry. Adding a slice of lemon brings out the citrus notes without making it too much. I am a BIG fan.

You can get a bottle of The Lakes Gin from their shop for £29.95 for a 70cl bottle, and for this price it may well be my new every day gin! Give them a follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (and a whole load more social networks but I’m old and don’t understand the others).

Let me know your thoughts on Lakes Gin over on Twitter and Instagram.

Mews Gin

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Note: I contacted the team at Mews Gin to see if they wanted to send me a sample for the blog and they were kind enough to send me one. As always, you’ll know if I’m not a fan.

Mews GinMews Gin is a new artisan distillery set up in the heart of Surrey using the combined skill of founding brothers Richard and Daniel Mew. After two years of researching and experimenting with recipes and distilling, they had their final product in 2014 – just in time for a family wedding. Daniel is an engineer bringing technical skills and precision to the process and Richard brings his business experience to form their team – and a gin that combines “the vibrancy of youth with the subtlety of maturity”. Whilst I don’t fully understand that sentence, I think this is reflecting in their branding – the bottle label feels both modern and classic. But what about the gin? All of the classic botanicals are joined with pink peppercorn, lavender and cubeb berries. They vapour distil their gin – costing more in time and money – but they think this is key to making a lighter, more subtle gin.

Cracking open my little bottle it smells nice and citrusy, a smell which sticks when mixed with water in a glass. Straight up this doesn’t taste like 38%. Very smooth and very easy to drink, there’s a hint of juniper and a hint of citrus. Not really getting the peppercorn but there is a lightness that I associate with flowery gins which I presume comes from the lavender. There is no alcohol burn as it goes down – a sign of a good gin!

Mews GinMixed into a simple gin with two parts tonic (sadly still Tesco) this is different to usual. It tastes like a classic gin, but just at the back of your throat you get a sudden hit of flavour. I can’t fully describe what it is, but either way this is fresh and zingy (yes, I went for zingy). It has woken me up after my long day at work and 5k run and I imagine this little bottle won’t be lasting very long.

A bottle of the 38% gin is currently available on Master of Malt for £31.95 (although also currently sold out) and I would snap this up, pronto! This has the flavour and characteristics of a much more expensive bottle, so if you can snaffle it for under £32 then grab it while you can. You can get in touch with Mews on Twitter and Facebook.

Have you tried Mews Gin? Let me know what you think on Twitter and Instagram.

Esker Gin

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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.

Cotswolds Gin

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Note: I emailed them for a sample for the blog and Zoe kindly replied and sent one to me. Then sent me another one when the first got lost in the post. But as always, if I don’t like it, you’ll know about it.

Cotswolds Gin hails from the Cotswolds (funnily enough) but is the brainchild of native New Yorker Dan Szor. They’re committed to keep it local – the barley and malt is produced within a 50 mile radius for their whisky and the botanicals for the gin are locally sourced. They produce a huge range of products now – their dry gin, a hedgerow gin, a barrel aged gin, espresso martini, sherry, cream liqueur… The list goes on. The Cotswolds Dry Gin mixes lavender, bay leaf, grapefruit, lime and black pepper. I’m hoping for something full of flavour and hopefully well balanced – otherwise it will be awful!

Twisting the cap off you get a citrus smell with a spiced tinge. Good start. Pouring it into the glass releases a great smell into the room. I only have a 50ml sample so I’m just trying it straight with no water, and boy does that wake you up. The freshness from the citrus meets a small kick of spice at the tip of the tongue. Mixed with a good measure of Fevertree tonic, this is different. The spiced tones come forward and balance out the zestiness from the citrus. It’s balanced but full of flavour. This tastes nothing like I expected it to, and I like it. Enough flavour to make you interested and get your tastebuds going, but not over the top or chemically. I’m a fan of this. Normally I’d add a lemon wedge, but as they use lime as a botanical I throw a slice in. The lime enhanced the citrus whilst toning back the spice. Whilst I like this, I think perhaps on its own is just as nice!

A bottle of Cotswolds Dry Gin is currently on Master of Malt for £34.95. I think this is pretty fair, especially if you want something livelier to add to your collection. They’re available to contact on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Have you tried Cotswolds Gin? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter and Instagram.

 

Anno Kent Dry Gin

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Drinks in a Tube
Drinks in a Tube

My aunt got me a cracking Christmas present: tubes of gin. Specifically Chilgrove gin (already tried, review here), Mason’s Gin (coming soon) and Anno Kent Dry Gin.

Anno Gin hails from Kent (funnily enough) and I’ve seen them in various places but never given them a try. At Anno, they blend traditional botanicals with locally sourced lavender from the award winning Downderry Nursery, elderflower, rose hips and samphire. I’m expecting floral and slightly… salty? It certainly sounds like it packs in the flavour; the tasting notes on their website says it starts with juniper, moving to citrus and sweet spice – a flavour that grows as you drink it. Apparently it is “bold and long” (oo-er) with leafy herbal notes. It’s blended with hops so I’m expecting it to be slightly earthy amongst the other flavours.

Anno Gin
Anno Gin

Cracking open the tube (I should point out I have a bit of a blocked nose) it certainly smells floral and herbal. Tinges of walks in fields, light and fresh. I have a 50ml sample so I’m going to go for the Ginvent style of tasting – no mixing it with water. In the glass it smells headier and the juniper becomes more prominent. It’s slightly silky on the tongue, the taste certainly grows. Slightly sweet at the front, developing to a bolder flavour at the back of the tongue. I can also detect a slight saltiness which contrasts – and compliments – the woodier tones.

Gin
Gin

Alas, I only have a smidge of Fever Tree left, so it’s back to Tesco tonic. Sadly, the tonic slightly drowns the gin, but hints of flowers come through. With tonic, I can’t sense the soft spicy notes, but it is fresh and citrusy and a great post-run pick me up! (Training for my 10k run is going great btw…). Throwing in some lemon slices, it helps to bring the citrus flavours to the front. I’m not overwhelmed by this, but I think if I mixed it with a drier Fever Tree tonic it would help enhance the flavours.

A bottle of 43% Anno gin is currently £31.20 on Master of Malt which is pretty fair considering it’s from a microdistillery (Kent’s first in 200 years nonetheless). I’m certainly going to give this another go. You can get in touch with Anno via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Have you tried Anno? What do you think? Let me know on Twitter and Instagram.

6 O’Clock Gin

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Note: I emailed 6 O’Clock gin for a sample for the blog and they replied by sending me a whole bottle. However, if this gin is grim, I’ll be honest about it. Although I am very happy that their version of a sample is 70cl.

I’ve known about 6 O’Clock gin for a while, and strangely have tried their tonic but not the gin. – the tonic, btw, is very good as well. Packaged in a lovely blue bottle with some simple branding, I’m a fan. They have a few gins to their range, the London Dry bottled at 43%, a sloe gin and a damson gin – as well as a whole range of liqueurs to complete your cocktail cabinet. Their gin is made in a classic copper still which is solar powered, making this a carbon neutral gin – important considering the amount of gin that is produced (and that I consume). Key botanicals juniper, orris root and angelica are joined by Winter Savoury (a Mediterranean herb akin to rosemary and thyme), elderflower and orange peel. They think the perfect serve is: gin, served with two or three times tonic. Correct. No poncy suggestions, but instead a nice note from them: “Forget the mango slices rolled in pepper corns, no need for sprigs and hold the fruit salad; our gin does the talking.” We know from the colour changing adventures of Ginvent that I’m not a huge fan of gimmicks so let’s see how this gin stands up on its own.

There’s no wax seal for me to battle with today, which is probably best after yesterday’s bouldering adventure which today means moving my arms too much hurts quite a lot. The bottle comes with a glass cork, a terrifying noise when you don’t know this is happening! Haven’t broken anything. Just the lid. The open bottle releases a string citrus smell – always a winner in my books – which fades slightly in the glass. Mixed with a dash of water, the juniper smell becomes more prominent. This is very easy to drink – I worry I drowned it in water. Definite taste of juniper and a hint of floral from the elderflower. They say on the bottle that it is “strikingly smooth” and they aren’t wrong. This is very easy to drink.

Mixed with some fevertree (treated myself on the way home), the taste of the gin is almost lost from the bitterness of the tonic. I can’t taste any gin. There’s hints of flowers and citrus, but it’s slightly lost in the tonic (I tried this as a 1:2 and 1:3 mix). A couple of slices of lemon bring this to life and highlight the citrus tones to it. I imagine mixing it with an elderflower tonic would produce similar results and highlight the floral notes. Personally I’m not sure this has enough flavour to make it stand out, but this is rather nice to snuggle up with on a snowy rainy evening. Simple, but done well. I think this is their aim, no gimmicks, no fancy flavours, just a quality gin. A bottle of this in your home could be used for many things – I think this will work well in baking as well as cocktails.

At time of writing, a 70cl bottle of 6 O’Clock gin is available on Master of Malt for £24.10 – but is listed on their website as £35. Personally for me £35 is a bit more than I would pay, but for £25 I’d certainly grab a bottle.

You can find 6 O’Clock gin over on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. What do you think about 6 O’Clock? Let me know over on Twitter and Instagram.

Ginvent 2016 – Ginvent Gin

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img_9970Happy Christmas Eve! With the happy times comes one sad thing, the end of Ginvent 🙁 I must admit, the pressure of daily blogging has been a bit much but I have loved this month. As our final drink, we’ve been given an exclusive bottle of the Gin Foundry‘s very own Ginvent gin. Themed around the festive season, this gin brings us tastes of red fruits, juniper and chocolate – what, no brie??

img_9971It certainly smells Christmassy. Nice and soft, with hints of berries and an almost vanilla hint. In the glass it opens up a bit, it smells comforting and like a nice cuddle. Mum takes a sip, coughs and says “it just tastes like neat gin”. Fact. Tasting it brings out the star anise and spiciness, it’s very warming but palatable. With tonic, this is really nice. Doesn’t taste too strong, but there’s a slight bittersweetness of the chocolate at the back of the throat and a fruity edge to it. I like this; it feels right for the season unlike the lighter Pinkster Gin and such types. Slightly earthy but comforting. I’m a fan. Cracking end to 2016’s Ginvent.

img_9972You can find Gin Foundry on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If it comes back in stock, a bottle of this costs just £29 on Master of Malt.

If you missed any of Ginvent, you can catch up here and let me know your thoughts over on Twitter and Instagram.

Now I’m going to go eat my body weight in pigs in blankets and stuffing. Merry Christmas.

Ginvent 2016 – Ancient Mariner Gin

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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 – 58 Gin

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img_9938Three gins left! Today’s gin in my Ginvent calendar is 58 Gin. I’ve followed them on Twitter for a while and have admired the bottle for a long time (we all know I love a good label). Made by Mark Marmont who became obsessed with gin after moving to London from Australia – or, more specifically, finding a gin he liked. After a few years of experimenting, he perfected 58 Gin – so called after his house number. Mixing traditional botanicals with the sweeter Sicilian lemon, pink grapefruit for balance and bourbon vanilla to round off the flavour, this gin is said to have a “crisp taste and a soft finish”.

img_9940Cracking open the bottle, it smells really nice. Fresh and zesty, it smells light and not too heavy. This could be the nice end to my working week, and the end to my hangover (if you read yesterday’s blog, it’s clear I wasn’t on top form and I regretted that this morning). Opened up in the glass, it smells very similar but with a bit more juniper coming to the front. It’s certainly zingy on the tongue. The hit of straight alcohol has woken me up. Mixing it with tonic, this is great. This could be a perfect every day gin. Thanks to heading Shirewards tomorrow, I have no fresh lemon in the house but I imagine this, or some grapefruit, would pick this up perfectly. Well balanced, a bit of juniper and a hit of citrus, this is right up my alley.

img_9941A 50cl bottle is available to buy on their website for £35. Now, I know this is a bit pricy for an everyday gin, but I like this and will be looking into getting a bottle post-Christmas.

You can find 58 Gin on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and check out my gin (and other things) related musings over on my Twitter and Instagram – and check out the last 21 days of Ginvent here.

 

 

Ginvent 2016 – Sibling Gin

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Today’s gin comes from brother/sister/brother/sister distilling team Sibling. I’ve tried this before thanks to Craft Gin Club so let’s not waste time blathering on about it as you can read my full review over here.

Currently a full sized bottle of this 42% gin is selling for £33.95 on Master of Malt.

Sibling Gin are all over Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and you can check me out on Twitter and Instagram. Catch up on Ginvent here.