Once upon a time a lad discovered he a certain penchant for gin… so he travelled far and wide, collecting a bottle here and there… Sparking an idea to have an evening or two or three to explore his booty properly back in India.
It took a few aborted attempts till we finally managed to get calendars to align… it was a lovely Sunday sundowner in a sultry Mumbai…
And what did we check out? Our plan was to explore four “different” gins with a standard to contrast and settle down for G&Ts…. Somehow that morphed into seven gins.
What also was the most remarkable about our explorations was the different tonics! Which should be a focused topic for another day…
For now… enjoy the first part of our foray into gin territory…
Rock Rose “Scottish Botanicals” 41.5% 2017, Batch 61, Bottle 452
- Fresh clean, citrus, coriander, cardamon, green peppers, dry with lemon zest… and yes rose but of a wilder variety
- Orange sweet (sea buckthorn?), more coriander finishing in… could it be fennel? Or something else?
- Quite the contrast between the nose and palate
From Dunnet Bay Distilleries Ltd, based in Caithness, Dunnet Bay, is one of Britain’s most northerly mainland distilleries and established in 2014. Rock Rose is produced by a wife / husband duo – Claire and Martin Murray – using 18 botanicals, of which 5 are grown locally and distilled in their coper pot “Elizabeth.”
The name was inspired by the “Rhodiola rosea” which grows on the cliffs of Pentland Firth. According to Celtic folklore, the Vikings allegedly harvested wild, exposed cliffs to gather Rhodiola rosea with the thought that it would give them the extra strength to continue on their long arduous journeys. (Dunnet Bay Distillers)
Tarquin Gin 42% Batch 488
- Sweet subtle perfume, lots of other botanicals, strong coriander, pink peppercorns, cardamon, mild, sweet violet
- Cardamon, very sweet, orange, dry pine forest, paprika
- Started soft then took on more spunk and character
From North to Southwest, Tarquin is made at Southwestern Distillery by the coast in North Cornwall. They use Devon violets fresh orange zest – both quite pronounced qualities… and it also had a distinctive pine forest dimension too. (Southwestern Distillery)
Silent Pool 43%
- Surprisingly briney. very orange and forward, some detected a bit of olives, brussel sprouts, vegetable cabbage, sea salt, sour kraut… how could that be?
- Mandarin, sweet, soft, caramel, salt water taffey
- Orange blossom, spice finish
Silent Pool Gin is produced on the Albury Estate in the Surrey Hills, next to the Silent Pool, a spring-fed lake.The gin features 24 botanicals, including kaffir lime, chamomile, local honey and lavender. (Silent Pool Distillers)
We found it a bit curious and the quite vegetal quality which came out originally wouldn’t be for everyone. But then it settled into a lovely orange sweet gin – with a distinctive character.
Up next Sunday we continue with:
Other gin experiences:
- Caorunn’s Gin revisited
- Dillon’s Unfiltered Gin 22 40% (Batch 18)
- Ki No Bi Kyoto Dry Gin 45.7% (Kyoto, Japan)
- Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin 47%
- Siegfried Rheinland Dry Gin 41%
- The Botanist Gin 46%
- Whobertus Dry Gin 43%
- Transforming common gin to uncommon delight
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