Hensol Castle may be relatively new to distilling, having only been running for two and a half years, but its history with the spirit goes right back. One former resident was one of the signatories involved in the infamous Gin Act of 1751, which was created to curb the gin craze which had gripped the country.
Without juniper, there’s no gin. It’s the one continuous aspect of the spirit we love that makes up its heart and soul. So much so that it’s the law for something to be called ‘gin’ it has to have juniper as its predominant flavour (and have a minimum strength of 37.5% ABV).
Kinrara Distillery, based in the heart of the Cairngorms national park in Scotland, really want to make it the star of the show and not just a legal necessity or tick box exercise with their Estate Juniper Edition Wild Juniper gin. While most British gins feature juniper from places across continental Europe, Kinrara have only used juniper berries foraged from the picturesque area around the Aviemore distillery for this gin.
I recently visited the Silent Pool Gin distillery in Surrey (see my blog about our tour) so was very excited to be invited to return so soon for a supper club evening with fellow Silent Pool-based business Mandira’s Kitchen. I’d never been to a supper club before, let alone one hosted at one of my favourite gin distilleries!
Chances are you’ve seen this copper and blue design before. It’s incredible how fast the intricate pattern that adorns Silent Pool gin has grown to reach such recognisable status across bars, homes and supermarkets.
Earlsfield in South West London, tucked between the much better known Clapham and Wimbledon, is my home. It has also been home to Ben’s Canteen since 2014, which has for the past years been our go-to for brunch, countless dinners with friends and hosting big birthday parties. Now it’s entering a new chapter and has evolved into Bloody Bens bar, distillery and kitchen. I caught up with founder Ben Walton to talk about his latest venture.
Beefeater is one of the most iconic drinks brands in the world. You see it behind almost every bar, no matter where you are.
New Zealand may be a small country, but its gins are slowly but surely making their mark on a global scale.
While my wife and I were travelling around New Zealand, we were fortunate to meet Joerg Henkenhaf, distiller and founder of Broken Heart gin, at his home near Queenstown. Broken Heart’s story has been told many times, so it was great to chat to Joerg more about his gins and how he created them.
Christmas 2016 feels like a long time ago now. Back then, my in-laws gave me a bottle of gin in a beautiful ceramic bottle. It was from their local gin distillery, The Gin Kitchen, then operating out of the back of one of the pubs in town, and who had just released their first gin a month prior: Gusty Monkey.
Sipsmith was one the first gins I ever tried when dipping my toes into the world of gin. It’s a delicious, well-balanced traditional London Dry that has always been synonymous with quality to me, and because of that, it’s always had a home on my gin shelf.
