Great Gins from around the world.
Posted by Spirits Kiosk on 7 Jul 2021
The world of gin is a vast and complex one not just because it’s a wondrous spirit filled with intricate botanicals, but because it is also made literally everywhere around the world. Maker's instil a sense of place into their creations and through gin, you can transport yourself to far flung destinations.
Be it the Australians' use of native myrtles, eucalypts or nuts, the South African's and their fynbos, South American's and their exotic botanicals or the Japanese and their deft touch of tea and Asian flora - there is a huge diversity to explore.
We’ve rounded up some of our favourites below, so if you are looking to do some globe-trotting from your arm chair this summer – here’s some inspiration for what to serve!
Have you seen this recent addition from Four Pillars Gin? Textural and bright, Olive Leaf Gin uses three types of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil and an olive leaf tea. Savoury notes are as clear as you'd expect for a gin with so many herbal botanicals, but the clever thing about this gin is the citrus (both peel and myrtle) that livens up the profile. Great in a G&T with rosemary to garnish, best in a Gibson Martini.
Sipsmith have been tinkering once more and their latest is a perfect marriage between fresh lime and a blend of seven chillies. Expect fruity chilli with a medley of bright citrus notes on the nose. To taste, fresh lime and ripe cantaloupe melon balance warming notes of red chilli and junipery pine. Lovely in a G&T!
Meet a brilliant Old Tom. It has aromas of fresh orange zest and cardamom bound on to resinous juniper, with jasmine and honeysuckle behind. To taste, preserved lemon zest and sweet juniper take over before a floral, spicy and woody finish. That combination of floral, citrus and sweet sticky juniper married with lingering oak spice makes No Mistake one of the best Old Toms in the world.
CITADELLE NO MISTAKE OLD TOM GIN
A relative newbie on the scene, The Artisan Gin is a beautifully packaged, brilliantly executed Croatian Gin. Classic Dry Gin favours are clear throughout with a resinous junipery core. Olive leaf adds herbaceous depth, elderflower and lavender bring levity - a dazzling flavour journey and a great gin to discover.
Isle of Wight’s Mermaid Gin uses ten botanicals, four of which loom larger than the rest. There’s fresh saline citrus from rock samphire, floral sweetness from elderflower, a zesty ping of lemon and fiery grains of paradise. They all gravitate around juniper and all are wrapped up in the category’s most beautiful bottle.
An expansion of the Akashi Sake Brewery, 135° East Gin comes from the Kaikyo Distillery in Akashi. It’s a contemporary style of Dry Gin combining three classic botanicals and five Japanese ones (cedar wood, shiso leaf, chrysanthemum, sansho pepper and yuzu). Intriguing and complex!
Canaïma is a tasty Amazonian Gin made by the team behind Diplomático Rum in Venuzuela. It uses masses of exotic ingredients, alongside traditional gin botanicals, which are individually distilled and then blended together. The Amazonian botanicals include cashew, acai, uva de palma, tupiro, seje, copoazu – all bringing wonderfully integrated tropical sensations…