‘Tis the season to be jolly… It’s December, the tree is up, cheesy films are on the telly, and I have my Craft Gin Club delivery.

This month brings us a festive edition from the folks at Manchester Gin. Craft Gin Club first worked with Manchester Gin back in Easter 2018, and since then the company has grown quite a bit. Going from distilling on their dining room table around their full time jobs, they now own a distillery, gin school and bar in the old railway arches near Deansgate station. As well as their award winning gins, they also produce a vodka, whisky and absinthe.

Husband and wife team Seb and Jen love Christmas. Their Under the Tree features all the flavours of Christmas that you’ve come to expect – cloves, orange peel and cinnamon. But they’ve given it a slight twist from normal by adding apple and dates. They say the apple gives it a freshness to balance the sweet and spice, and the dates give a fruity base. As someone that loves sticky toffee pudding – one of their inspirations –  I’m excited to see how this turns out.

Uncorking the bottle you get a rich, jammy smell coming out the neck. From the glass, it gets slightly sweeter but the spices notes add a touch of smokiness there. A splash of water suddenly brings out that crisp, green apple note. To taste, I’m (pleasantly) surprised that it’s not sweeter, you get a big hit of cinnamon to bring some spice at the tip of the tongue. A touch of menthol at the end from the cloves, and all around something rather tasty.

Next up is their recommended serve – which I’m slightly disappointed by as they feature Schweppes. Which, let’s face it, is rubbish. But any excuse to open up the BEAUTIFUL glassware my wonderful friend Emma got me for Christmas (from Oliver Bonas before you ask because she’s très fancy). So I fill my glass with ice, 50ml of gin, a bottle of tonic (as instructed) and garnish with a cinnamon stick and dried cranberries and redcurrants.

Overall, it’s fine. Frankly this is far too much tonic for me and any of the lovely flavours that we had are now fully drowned. The cinnamon stick helps give it a tiny bit of character. I’m looking forward to trying this with a normal amount of tonic. And, when in doubt, citrus and spice and fruit? Perfect for a negroni.

A 70cl bottle of the 40% ABV Under the Tree gin is currently available exclusively for Craft Gin Club members via their shop for £36 (at time of writing). If you fancy a bottle, you can join here (note, this is an affiliate link and you get 60% your first order and I get £10 off my next box).

You can find Manchester Gin on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Have you tried any of the Manchester gin range? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter and Instagram.