Indholdsfortegnelse for Dec 2019/Feb 2020 i Gin Magazine

Between the time that this issue has gone to print and the next Gin Magazine lands on your doorstep, we’ll have swiftly passed through several of the yearly drinking phases; the merry excesses of late November and December, the cash-strapped sobriety of January and then the frantic making up for lost time of February. Chances are that good intentions for the year and resolutions will have been tested by then too and possibly long forgotten. I’m hoping to commit a few readers to some principles for the months ahead. Apologies if I sound a little too sanctimonious. Many of us will be flitting between parties this side of the New Year and the celebrations themselves should be enough for each to standout. However, I think now is the moment, more…

A new expression of Wildcat gin has been launched by the spirits producer Whyte & Mackay. Wildcat Bramble is a blackberry flavoured gin and was launched in Tesco supermarkets in the UK and select bars on the anniversary of the curse of the bramble bush. Its packaging mirrors that of the core Wildcat brand, but with additional thorny imagery to convey the brand bush. The gin is 37.5% ABV and is berry forward, perfect for serving long with tonic or with a sparkling wine. The curse of the bramble bush comes from the story that the devil himself cursed the bramble bush in a fit of rage after landing on its prickly thorns. It is said that no one should consume brambles after September 29, the anniversary of the curse.…

Gin Live London, the marquee event for gin lovers, is returning for 2020 and is set to be bigger than before with more producers and gin for guests to enjoy. After debuting in London in March 2019, 2020 will see the event return to the surroundings of the Honourable Artillery Company in the heart of the city. Delivered by the team behind Gin Magazine, the tasting event will run across Friday 27 and Saturday 28 March and feature exhibitors from across the globe, each waiting to introduce you to their gins. With masterclasses and food available on site, it’s a must-not-miss event for gin-lovers looking to expand their understanding of the spirit. Tickets are on sale now, so book as soon as possible to make sure that you don’t miss…

As gin’s rise continues around the world, the US has been trailblazing in gin cocktails, with San Francisco (SF) and New York City leading the charge over a decade ago. These days, I can go anywhere from Cincinnati to Oklahoma City, Sacramento to Savannah, and there is a cocktail scene with gin cocktails – and often, a local gin. “Craft” or small-batch gin was pioneered in San Francisco by Anchor Distilling, now Hotaling & Co., when Fritz Maytag launched Junipero in the 1990s. 209 Gin was launched in 2005, distilled on a pier in SF. St. George Spirits opened in 1982, illuminating gin possibilities with its three gins in 2011. Davorin Kuchan of Old World Spirits, just south of SF, experimented with barrel-aged gin in 2003 but waited on label…

It’s a lofty goal to reinvent something that has been around for over 500 years but Dutch producer Hooghoudt aims to do as much with its new genevers. Presenting a RAW Genever and an Aged Genever, the goal is to finally leave the spirit’s granddad image behind. The new genevers were presented during a launch event in the company’s hometown of Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands. Boldly titled ‘The Reinvention of Genever’, the event was held in a former sugar factory. Out with the old, in with the new. Where many brands embrace the former glory days of genever and try to get consumers to do the same, family owned Hooghoudt wants to kickstart a new glorious era for the iconic Dutch drink. The new design from London-based…

Buried within a wealthy Dutch merchant’s household guide is the world’s oldest gin recipe. Handwritten in 1495, the recipe is a rich man’s boast of a drink. Among the ingredients listed are several herbs and spices that would have been prohibitively expensive for Europeans at the time, but they are also still widely used by gin distillers today. In fact, if you saw this 1495 botanical bill utilised by a modern gin producer, it would likely go without remark. Tastes have fluctuated far less than the prices have, and 1495 would have been a particularly expensive moment to enjoy this beverage. A lucrative spice trade existed along the Silk Road for centuries. Constantinople, by virtue of its central location, was an important hub along the route. The Ottoman Empire took…

Tweet us @ginmagazineuk or email editor@paragraph.co.uk for a chance to feature I recently saw that Beefeater uses both angelica seed and angelica root in its gin – what’s the difference? Is it overkill? IIAN, BOURNEMOUTH Both angelica seeds and roots come from the same plant-Angelica Archangelica – which grows primarily in central and northern Europe. The root is the third most commonly used botanical in gin, featuring in more than a thousand different gins across the world. In contrast, I only know of perhaps a dozen gins that are made using the seeds; alongside Beefeater, Boodles Gin is a good example. When used as a botanical, angelica root adds a dry earthiness to gin. To quote gin expert and author Geraldine Coates, it is “what gives gin its dryness”. The…

India is the world’s seventh largest country with the second biggest population, so it is perhaps noteworthy that, until recently, the rise of gin had made little impact there. This is more surprising given the region’s association with the spirit: it was the likely birthplace of the Gin & Tonic and the setting for its first known written reference. The drink appears in the 1868 edition of The Oriental Sporting Magazine, where the author recounts a horse race in Sialkot (now part of Punjab, Pakistan): “Loud cries of ‘gin and tonic’, ‘brandy and soda’, ‘cheroots’, &c., told us the party was breaking up for the night and we wended our way home”. The first Indian gin that I tried was a product called Big Ben London Dry Gin, which is…

Flavoured gin is here to stay. If you’re looking for one of its pioneers, you could do far worse than speaking to Tom Warner of Warner’s gin. We get to know Tom and his brand a little more after another jam-packed year. Tom, can you tell us a little more about yourself, what you do currently with the company and your background? Tom Warner. The name’s on the bottle and I’m now probably seen as a relic from the start-up days of the business. I guess I’m a walking personification of what we do as a business and there are not many parts of the business that I don’t touch on on a daily basis. I wear a lot of hats, but that’s entrepreneurism for you. You initially start as…

Aged genevers are perfect companions for the cosy, wintery festive period – especially if they matured in former sherry or port casks. We’ve compiled three excellent examples to keep you warm and comfy. Rutte Fino Sherry Cask Dutch botanical distiller Rutte presents the second in a series of four sherry cask matured genevers. Rutte Fino Sherry Cask has aged for six years in American oak casks previously containing Fino, a dry and white sherry wine. This rich genever is not unlike a well-aged whisky but has extra complexity because of botanicals such as juniper, coriander, orris root and liquorice root. The sherry adds nutty flavours. Zuidam Oude Genever 11 Years Old Pedro Ximénez Cask The aged stocks of Dutch family-owned distillery Zuidam are among the most comprehensive in the industry.…

Sponsored by Master of Malt Taster biographies Sam Coyne Sam is the bastion of Gin Magazine, Travelux, Rum and The Drinks Report. When not writing and tasting spirits, Sam finds balance by racing competitively. He has led masterclasses on spirits too and is increasingly learning to mix cocktails at home and for his long suffering colleagues. David T. Smith David T. Smith is an independent spirits writer and consultant who specialises in gin. He is a chair judge for a number of spirits competitions and has written widely on the subject, incuding The Craft of Gin, Forgotten Spirits and Long Lost Liqueurs and Gin Tonica. He was winner of the 2016 Gin Communicator of the Year award. THE PROCESS • All samples are blind tasted, with ABV and style the only…

Hertfordshire’s Copper in the Clouds has launched a Mango & Black Pepper Gin. The 43% ABV gin is made with 12 botanicals including four types of peppercorn. Production involves macerating with fresh, ripe mango for three days before 24 hours with black pepper. It is available at £23.35 for 70cl, while a 35cl bottle is also on offer. Copper in the Clouds was founded by James Grant and started in 2016 on a farm in Hertfordshire. It claims that each of its botanicals are either foraged on the farm, grown by a local botanist or sourced from a specialist in Cambridgeshire. Its artistically designed bottles, which feature a creative wrap, mean that you’re sure to notice them either on the shelf or behind the bar. The brand suggests that its…

Sliabh Liag Distillers has announced the release of An Dúlamán Santa Ana, Armada Strength Gin. This navy strength gin is aged in Rioja casks, which impart sweetness and a rose gold hue to the liquid. After ageing in casks, Santa Ana is bottled at the navy strength of 57% ABV. Santa Ana is now available from Master of Malt and Whisky Exchange for an RRP of £45. Sliabh Liag Distillers launched An Dúlamán Irish Maritime Gin in the UK earlier in 2019. Both expressions have links to the Donegal coastline. Its name comes from La Duquesa Santa Ana, an Andalusian shop which was lost in Philip II’s Spanish Armada conquest to invade England in 1588. The ship was wrecked on 28 September off Loughros Mor, close to where the An…

It’s almost a certainty these days that there will be somebody in your life who enjoys gin – if you can’t pinpoint which person it is in your friendship circle, it’s you. As we roll towards gifting season and the C-word, there’s much to choose from when looking for gin-presents. We take a look inside the distiller’s sack and pick out some of the best gifts – of course there’s more out there too, so check out our website, www.gin-mag.com for even more options. ADVENT CALENDARS Truly, whoever came up with the idea of booze-filled advent calendars must be feeling very smug. It’s a simple enough concept but it seems to be the trend amid the gin-trend. Drinks by the Dram and That Boutique-y Gin Company (TBGC) have released their…

When I meet Jesse Vida, he admits to being a little jaded, having just worked the notoriously hectic Singapore Cocktail Week. The event’s name would suggest that the festival lasts a ‘mere’ seven days, but in a city that rarely serves up half measures, naturally it rumbles on for twice that and then some. A reoccurring theme of my trip was the name of one bar being on everybody’s lips. It isn’t a new name to me, because its reputation extends far beyond its country’s borders. It’s just reassuring to know that the locals regard it with the same reverence as everybody else. That bar is Atlas. Situated in Parkview Square, Atlas Bar forms the centrepiece of a sprawling ground-floor plaza within a towering Art-deco building. It opened in 2017…

The big gin news to emerge out of this year’s TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes was undoubtedly the launch of Hendrick’s Amazonia – the first permanent travel-retail exclusive ever released by the super-premium Scottish gin that has stormed up the duty-free sales rankings in recent years. As the name suggests, Hendrick’s Amazonia is inspired by the Amazon rainforest and in particular a fact-finding trip the brand’s master distiller, Lesley Gracie made to the Venezuelan rainforest with the septuagenarian explorer Charles Brewer-Caria in 2013 to learn more about the region’s exotic local flora and fauna. Gracie’s findings on that arduous trip eventually resulted in the 43.4% ABV Hendricks’s Amazonia which is described as a “bright, tropical” gin, which also retains the spirit’s core rose and cucumber character. It transpires the botanicals…

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