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.
Everyone’s favourite gin festival is back after a pandemic-induced year off! Junipalooza from Spirits Society brings together gin makers and fans and I couldn’t wait to get stuck in again at the events’ home in Tobacco Dock. This was my first year attending more than one session, taking on both the first session on Saturday and returning for my usual Sunday session too. Being able to pace things a bit more gently while getting used to seeing people in real life again was a big help and meant that I could take more time with each distiller, getting to know more about what they’re doing and why.
Victory London and Vault Vermouth, two of London’s finest independent spirits makers, have teamed up for a very special collaboration: Champagne & Oysters Vermouth. I love oysters, champagne and vermouth, so when I heard that this was on the way I eagerly refreshed the Victory shop waiting for the bottles to become available. I wasn’t the only one though, and within an hour Victory had sold out of their batch, and it wasn’t long after that before Vault had fully sold out too.
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.
Earlier this year I started working at a fantastic charity called Breast Cancer Care. Every summer they run a great fundraising initiative called Afternoon Tea where supporters host parties to raise money to support the vital work the charity does. I couldn’t resist getting involved and combining two of my passions, gin and supporting good causes, by hosting an Afternoon G&Tea!
Much has been said about Tanqueray’s Flor De Sevilla gin. The 180-year old brand released its latest gin earlier this year, and it’s been flying off the shelves and filling up my Instagram feed ever since.
Inspired by the beautiful Gower Peninsular in South Wales, the first area in the UK to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Gŵyr is a bold new gin that you won’t forget.