Indholdsfortegnelse for Mar/May 2021 i Gin Magazine

Tanqueray has announced the release of an indulgent new flavoured gin – and shared details of more new products to come in 2021. The 41.3% ABV Tanqueray Blackcurrant Royale, inspired by Charles Tanqueray’s travels in France, blends the brand’s London Dry Gin with French blackcurrants, vanilla and black orchid for a sophisticated flavoured gin. The expression is going on sale with Amazon and selected supermarkets from February, with a plan to launch in hospitality venues later in the year. Next up, in April, will come two ready-to-drink (RTD) cans featuring its Tanqueray London Dry Gin and Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla Distilled Gin. The 250ml cans will combine the gins with tonic water, tapping into a growing trend in the UK for premium pre-mix products. Meanwhile a packaging makeover for the…

Slingsby Gin is hoping to cause a fizz of excitement in the gin market with the release of two ready-to-drink (RTD) options. The pre-mixed cans, Slingsby Solo and Slingsby Spritz, combine the Yorkshire distiller’s premium gin with tonic in the former, and with sparkling water and refreshing fruit flavours in the latter. The vegan, gluten-free Slingsby Spritz drinks offer convenient and low-calorie refreshment, with just 70 calories per can. There are three flavours in the range, each 5% ABV: Rhubarb and Strawberry, Damson and Blackberry, and Marmalade and Apricot. Meanwhile, the Slingsby Solo serves come in three flavours: Rhubarb Gin and elderflower tonic, Rhubarb Gin and ginger ale, and Marmalade Gin and Mediterranean tonic. Marcus Black, co-founder of Slingsby Gin and its parent company Spirit of Harrogate, said: “Kickstarting 2021…

In the not-so-distant past, gins were often stored and transported in wooden casks as a matter of necessity. And these barrels weren’t necessarily new, either. The barrel storing gin today might have held a different gin yesterday and maybe a wine or whisky before that. Glass, plastic and other conveyances or fresh barrels were either prohibitively expensive, or just weren’t invented yet. When you see a gin referred to by name in a 19th-century cocktail manual, it’s likely that it spent part of its life in an old barrel. However, here’s where an important distinction needs to be made. The barrel-aged gins of today are made with intention, compared to the barrel-aged resting out of necessity of their predecessors. Distillers and producers today are choosing to use barrels for their…

Gin just isn’t gin without juniper. Yes, legislation says a gin must be juniper dominant, but it’s more than that. With its distinctive piney, resinous aroma and taste, it is the very heart of what gin is, and the hallmark of this distilled spirit over any other. Whilst juniper berries are the key ingredient for a delicious gin, the juniper tree is also an ecologically important species in the UK. A native conifer that can be traced back to the last ice age, they’re pretty hardy under usual circumstances, living for up to 200 years. The largest populations of juniper can be found in the north of England and Scotland. Where once there were huge swathes of the UK where juniper grew, the number of natural sites is currently at…

Genever has long played an important role in Dutch culture and once was one of the pre-eminent spirits in the world. But those days are long gone and while genever is gaining traction – not just in its home country but also worldwide – there’s still some way to go. Globally, it remains many steps below gin, the spirit that genever helped birth. In its home countries of Belgium and the Netherlands, genever is still largely known as an old-fashioned drink better left to older generations. Trying to reach a younger audience is a challenge that brands and marketers from all industries struggle with; genever is no different. “We believe genever should have a much broader appeal,” says Robin Slegtenhorst, 29, co-founder of Verbond Genever in the Netherlands. He and…

Floral botanicals are perhaps the most difficult to work with as they are aromatic and intense in the right setting, but can easily become stewed and bitter when exposed to the heat of distillation. More hardy flowers such as lavender can also easily overwhelm a gin, making it taste like the florid perfume of an ancient relative. There are a variety of methods that distillers can use to successfully draw out the flavour of floral botanicals. Some use dried botanicals to help concentrate the essential oils, whilst others use vacuum or vapour distillation to limit the botanicals’ exposure to heat. Distillers can also make a botanical tea from flower petals by infusing them in neutral spirit before removing the solid matter and distilling the resultant liquid. Other floral botanicals include…

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the Gin Magazine Awards 2021, which encompass the Icons of Gin awards, World Gin Awards and the Gin Magazine Hall of Fame. In the year since we last presented the Gin Magazine Awards, the world has been through 12 of the rockiest months in recent history. A spreading virus outbreak which was in its relative infancy last February became a full-blown global pandemic and caused the world – and life as we know it – to change drastically in almost all corners of the globe. Bars, hotels and other hospitality and tourist venues were forced to shut their doors; non-essential businesses were ordered to cease operations; and millions, if not billions, of people were given the order to stay at home…

What scene could be more evocative of sipping gin than walking through a green forest on Oregon’s brisk coast, with fragrances of pine and rain-drenched shrubs? It is a scent that has guided many of the Northwest’s distillers in making their unique gins. Oregon occupies a landmass similar in size to the UK – 98,381 square miles, or 254,806 km² – but with roughly 6 per cent of the population. The lush farmlands of the Willamette Valley gave birth to vineyards producing world-class Pinot Noir. Portland has consistently ranked among the USA’s premier beer cities. It was natural that Oregon should be out ahead when the craft distilling movement started… last century. Way back in 1996, Jim Bendis founded a rectifying operation in Bend. Bendistillery started producing a single-botanical spirit…

Palo santo is an aromatic wood known for giving off floral, vanilla, coconut and citrus impressions. Translating as ‘holy wood’, palo santo is burned for healing rituals by indigenous tribes in South America. Its fragrance is best known in incense, soaps, candles and essential oils. Now it has found its way into a gin, and an exceptional gin at that. Gin Farallon Holy Wood & Cask is more than a gimmick. It is one of the more uniquely delicious and balanced spirits in any category to come out in this past year. The gin’s maker, Brad Plummer, first became aware of the holy wood from Palo Santo Marron, a brown ale made by Dogfish Head Brewery. Afterwards, he started detecting its character in a variety of products. “As I discovered…

Ally Martin, global brand ambassador for Hendrick’s Gin, spent as much as 50 per cent of his time on the road before the pandemic. Now in lockdown, he yearns for foreign climes and, nearer to home, the joy of picking a Scottish-grown banana at the Hendrick’s Gin Palace. Where have been the most memorable or interesting countries that your work has taken you? In terms of memorability, the two countries that have really stood out for me are Lebanon and Japan. I love Lebanon so much. There is something really unique about it. The people and the culture there are amazing; the Beirut bar scene is really down to earth but, at the same time, really high quality. There’s an energy and vibrancy to the city which is really wonderful.…

With its global presence and prominence continuing to grow year-on-year, the furtherance of the gin category lies as much in the hands of industry communicators and ambassadors as it does with the producers who continue to surprise and delight us with their juniper spirit innovations. This year’s Hall of Fame inductees span the full spectrum of the gin world – from those who create the recipes that will spark interest, amazement and pleasure in the gin-drinking community, to the judges and commentators who put their heart and soul into celebrating the category, educating consumers about its bountiful offerings, and supporting the world’s gin distilleries in their work. SPONSORED BY Inductee No. 6 Lesley Gracie Master distiller, Hendrick’s Gin A chemist by trade, Lesley Gracie has been working with William Grant…

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Yorkshire’s Cooper King Distillery has become the first in England to produce carbon-negative gins. The award-winning distiller’s Dry and Herb Gins are now classed as carbon negative, meaning that for every bottle of spirit produced, more carbon is removed from the atmosphere than is emitted. To achieve this status, Cooper King has done as much as possible to reduce the carbon footprint of the gins. It has then offset the remainder of the emissions, plus a further 1kg of CO2 equivalent per bottle, through high-impact verified carbon credits, which support greenhouse gas emission reduction schemes elsewhere. It comes after Scotland’s Arbikie Distillery launched its groundbreaking carbon-negative gin, Nàdar, in February 2020. In addition to carbon offsetting, Cooper King supports the planting of one square metre of native UK woodland for…

If you look at pure market economics, starting a gin brand in India makes no sense. Brown spirits – your whiskies and rums – make up 97 per cent of spirits sales in the country. Clear spirits claim just three per cent of the market, and of that, two per cent is vodka. Once you take out the (relatively) vast gin market share of globally present, imported brands, you’re left with a vanishingly small 0.2 - 0.3 per cent of the market that is occupied by craft gins. Those numbers would be enough to make even the (fool)hardiest of drinks entrepreneurs run for the hills. And yet, the market for craft gin brands in India is exploding, following the same trajectory seen in Europe and the US. Anand Virmani, co-founder…

With pink gin sales going through the roof in recent months, it’s easy to see why orange gin has been the next fruity iteration to follow suit. On top of ticking the aesthetics box – who wouldn’t want to drink a gin which looks like a cocktail in itself? – orange-flavoured gins are juicy, flavourful, zesty and citrusy, and the fruit itself tends to sit well alongside botanicals such as juniper. It’s predicted the trend for flavoured gins will continue well into 2021, too. According to a recent survey by Stirling-based Boë Gin, more than half of UK drinkers aged between 18 and 34 choose flavoured gins over more classical juniper-led gins. Not only that, but a market report released by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) reveals 10…

Francisco “Pancho” Castillon at Farmacia Rita Pérez, Guadalajara Calle Colonias Entre, Avenue Ignacio L. Vallarta y, Pedro Moreno, 44600 Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico Instagram: @farmacia.ritaperez Relaxed Farmacia Rita Pérez is home to welcoming service and a killer aguachile menu. Francisco “Pancho” Castillon’s engaging personality sets the tone, while a rousing jukebox and vintage organ turn out tunes in a country where indoor dining (with masks and temperature checks) is still an option. Here, agave spirits reign, but gin delights come in the form of drinks like Quinina Fina: Jaliscan-made Clover Club Gin, lavender bitters, basil and tonic water. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING IN THE PANDEMIC? We opened in August 2020 and the pandemic has been present for us from the first. We bet on empowering the work staff with knowledge,…

There are few things more devastating than fire. Its ferocity, indiscrimination and all-consuming nature invoke a primal fear. For anyone who has anything to lose – a prospering gin business, for example – the spectre of fire is a terrifying one. That spectre paid Karl and Cathy Mason a visit on 2 April, 2019 and took their Masons of Yorkshire gin distillery, near Bedale in Yorkshire, with it. Six years of planning, care and dedication literally went up in smoke. “There is nothing worse that could happen,” says Karl. “We got a phone call about eight in the morning. There were staff on site, we were getting ready to go in, and someone shouted down the phone, ‘We’re on fire and it’s big.’ We watched it all burn down in…

Salt and vinegar, bacon and eggs, peanut butter and jelly are all classic combinations. When it comes to juniper spirits, the classic combination has got to be gin and tonic – a delicious and easy-to-mix staple for more than a century. But what if you fancy a change? In this article, we’re going to explore alternative mixers that you can try with your favourite gin. Ginger ale is a slightly less prevalent, but not outlandish favourite. Simply combine with gin and some lemon juice and you have a Gin Buck, or – if you prefer a more fiery ginger kick – there is the Gin Mule, a take on the Moscow Mule that’s made with ginger beer and lime. Gin and lemonade is also increasing in popularity, particularly with fruit…