Mister Cocktail

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the Chase Distillery in Herefordshire. I was given an extensive tour around the farm with great weather accompanying me. Master Distiller and also my guide for today Jamie Baggott took a good few hours to show me around, taking me through all the processes they work with to create their 70+ variations. Mainly the production of their alcohol was explained to me: Potato for their Vodka and Williams Gin and Apple for thier Williams  Gin. The two main agricultural products of Herefordshire are indeed Apples (Producing cider is the big thing in this area) and potatoes, for which the red clay soil is perfect.

Chase Distillery was established by Will Chase in 2008, when he sold his previous company: Tyrrell’s Potato Chips. Having learnt a great deal about potatoes, he recognized the potential of launching a spirit-brand and after a testing period of 4 years he launched Chase Vodka. In 2010 it got awarded  Double Gold and best in class at the IWSC in San Fransisco over  249 other brands and it could name itself World’s Best Vodka. I found a great interview with Will Chase here, no need for me to rewrite all that.

Williams Gin is distilled at the farm, where both the apples (gin) and potatoes (vodka) needed for the base-spirit are grown. First, a base spirit made of apples is distilled for the gin. This is then re-distilled with the botanicals, being Juniper, Coriander, Orris, Liquorice, Angelica, Hops, Orange, Lemon, Elderflower and Brambley Apple. They use a small carterhead still for this, making sure the small batch distilling gives it the elegance it needs. To read about their full process of making their products, check here.

The bottle: The shoulder and foot of the bottle are about 2 mm wider than the middle at both sides, creating the optical illusion of a very slender bottle. It is fully transparent, except for the lowest 5 cms, with the absolute minumum of information displayed on the bottle: only the name, origin and some practical information is printed on it. It is decorated with an old apple tree in wintertime and because of the dark bottom, the Union Jack is a nice eyecatcher.
92/100

The nose: Creamy and slightly sweet on the nose, with juniper and coriander coming through right after. It has a somewhat damp yet fresh flavour that I recognise from ciders. This  is logically caused by the base-alcohol being created from  apples. 97/100

The contents:  The first taste I get is juniper and coriander. Due to the high level of alcohol (48 % abv/96 proof), the gin releases some of it’s flavours only later. I kept the fluid in my mouth for 10 seconds and I noticed it started releasing more floral and fruity notes. It also reminded me of a fine Jasmin tea. The orange and lemon zest are part of the very long aftertaste, together with apple and elderflower. The mouth feel is silky-like and doesn’t get tart at any point.
98/100

The Mixability:
You might get the idea that I’m writing a raving review on this product because I had visited the distillery, but I can assure you that this is not the case. I have visited a lot of distilleries (some of them more visitors centres actually) over the past few years and although visiting a location definitely contributes to appreciate a brand more, I’m focussing on the product, which basically is what it is. And on how it combines with Tonic Water. Chase produces both the “Elegant Crisp Gin” and the “Extra Dry Gin”, the latter at 40 % ABV. However, I carried a bottle of the “Elegant Crisp Gin” home with me, so here we go, in the mix!

Fever Tree: I must admit that I expected this to be the perfect match, but it wasn’t. A very dominant bitter taste is produced in this mix. A little strange, since neither the gin nor the tonic are very bitter. Especially in the aftertaste, the bitterness suppresses the palate too much. In the middle there are some sweeter (orange, liquorice, elderflower) and citrus notes. It is not a bad combination, don’t get me wrong, and you can still enjoy this mix for both are great products.
8.0/10

Fentiman’s: This mix goes in a completely different direction, but also not he one I was hoping for. A little too perfumed for my taste, very high on the citrus notes and with a floury (not floral) mouth feel.
7.5/10

Thomas Henry: The first sip indicates that this could be a very good combination. The characteristics of the gin are clearly present, with a nice juniper and citrus note at the beginning. The tastes evolves to more floral and fruity, slight bitterness in still present (quinine of course) but never predominant. The citrus in the gin and tonic work together great an to me this is a great example of how a tonic should serve the gin.
9.5/10 

1724: A nice combination with Chase Gin, as it is a very soft tonic water. Especially the aftertaste is long and nice with citrus (both lemon and orange) and elderflower.

Conclusion: This is an amazing gin to taste neat and surprisingly more difficult to match with a the right Tonic Water. Thomas Henry was by far the best combination for me, but as tastes vary, another tonic water may be better for your taste. I also stirred a Dry Martini and this serves the gin much better. It is an amazing product, with a great story behind it that is honest and true (as I have seen with my own eyes), just like the people behind it.
96/100 

Geranium Gin is a Danish brand created by Henrik Hammer and his father, who worked around the concept of incorporating geranium in a gin. They found historical links between the use of Juniper and Geranium and investigated this combination on a scientific level. They concluded that these two are indeed a great marriage and they proceeded with the development of the gin. It is a London Dry Gin, which means that all 10 botanicals (Juniper, Geranium, Coriander seeds, Lemon, Orange, Liquorice, Cassia, Angelica, Orris root and 1 is a secret!) are distilled at once in a neutral grain spirit. The production of the gin takes place in the U.K. (Birmingham more precisely) and Geranium Gin is distilled in a copper pot-still that is over a century old.

When tasted neat, Geranium Gin is a very smooth and mild spirit. It combines the freshness of citrus (coriander, lemon) and juniper very stylishly with the floral taste of geranium. What a surprising ingredient! The taste is full-bodied, but never out of balance with a great sweetness from liquorice and orange.

Fever Tree Tonic: The combination is an extremely smooth G&T. The bitter notes from the quinine in Fever Tree are nicely balanced by the geranium, which still doesn’t overpower. The long lemony taste from Geranium Gin gives the drink a very long aftertaste, which made me decide not to use a juice-containing garnish in here. Instead of a lime or lemonwedge, I used an orangezest which made the drink just perfect for me.
9.5/10

1724: This is a very soft and gentle combination. A subtle bitterness really complements the taste of the geranium. The bubble in the 1724 tonic is small and slow and combines very well with this gin. In the aftertaste there’s a very pleasant hint of spicy orange. Great g&t for he or she who enjoyes a mild and gentle gin & tonic.
9.5/10

Fentiman’s: When I poured the tonic, a very pleasant small of rosewater arose from the mix. The tonic is the first you taste, the gin a bit later and it gives a very surprising effect. The lemontones are much stronger in this mix and this is the perfect tonic if you like a g&t with a bite.
9.5/10

Thomas Henry: This mix accentuates the more earthy notes like Orris and Angelica. In the middle more floral and fruity notes come through, the Orange and Geranium. A slight bitterness is present from beginning until long in the aftertaste.
9.5/10

Conclusion: This is actually the first gin I’ve tried for this blog that matches great with all the tonic waters that I tasted it with. But is is very important to note at the same time that all 4 mixes are for different g&t-drinkers. I tried to describe along each mix which match is good for which type of drinker. Just like the mix with Fever Tree (which I tested a few months ago), I used a fresh orange zest as a garnish additionally, but the rating is based on just the plain mix of Geranium Gin with each Tonic Water.

One bottle in particular has been waiting for me to taste properly and that’s Bulldog gin. The bottle is pretty distinct amongst it’s competitors, not being transparent nor green nor blue. It is named after Sir Winston Churchill’s dog and produced in the UK, using 12 botanicals in total of which 9 are classic gin botanicals en 3 that are unique to this gin: Dragon-Eye, Poppy Seeds and Lotus Leaves. Visit their site to learn more about these, as well as some claims that it makes that lead me to a short nosing around on the interweb but it’s hard to track it all for being true or false. Here’s the claim to gluten-free, calories-per-shot (all gins are 65 – 70 cals/30 mls), vegan-friendly (but all gins on vegan.fm were declared vegan-friendly) and Kosher and I love this quote: ”Botanicals are generally kosher; however, some of them, such as citrus peels, may come from Israel and therefore may not be kosher due to issues surrounding terumot, ma’aserot and shemittah.” But so far I haven’t found a gin claiming to use Israelian Lemons. But I’m not working as the NY Times Food Critic by all means, I’m just here to taste the stuff!

Bottle: Like the name suggests: masculine and tough, with a dog-collar just below the thick and heavy screwtop. The bottle is pitch-black with wide shoulders and a firm body, making it stand out amongst my other gins (or any other bottle I might add).
92/100

The Nose: juniper and fresh lemon with a hint of pepper. Slightly earthy yet floral.
91/100

The Contents: dry, yet soft juniper first with nice lemon. After that more sweetness: liquorice and cassia that form the middle part of the taste, together with floral notes of lavender and orris. It leaves a long taste behind and unlike the first taste, it’s not dry at all.  A long fruity taste keeps lingering in the back – I guess that should be the Dragon Eye, which is described as “first cousin to the Lychee”.
91/100

The mixability:
Fever Tree: strong bitter notes at first with slight fruity notes and more lemon towards the middle. The bitter notes remain there as well, although they ‘disappear’ after a few more sips. The mouth feel is a bit dryer than I expected with less sweeter notes in it then tasting it neat.

8.0/10

Fentiman’s: This tonic has loads of citric notes in it and combined with the Bulldog Gin it gives a very fresh taste. It never gets to the sweet side of the taste but more floral
8.5/10

Thomas Henry:  This mix stays on the more sweet and earthy side of the spectrum. Liquorice, Dragon Eye and Cassia are very present while more earthy notes from Angelica and Almond are in the middle and aftertaste. It stays in your mouth for a long time with lemon and floral notes lingering in the back. Nice.
9.0/10

1724: I needed four, five good sips of this mix to get an idea of the flavours. At first it felt like a bit of a bummer and it takes a long time to build up some character. The mouth feel is very good on the other hand with the sweetest aftertaste of all mixes, but not the longest. The taste disappears quite fast so not the best combination.
6.5/10

Overall: Bulldog is a gin for the more experienced gin-drinker, but it has a very nice angle with some unique botanicals. It sets itself apart with the packaging and fortunately the contents can match the expectations. The best mix for me was with Thomas Henry, as this compliments the botanicals in Bulldog best. Quite a nice gin and most certainly worth for you to try it!
Overall: 91/100 

Since my last G&T Sunday review, I had tried several combinations during the summer. One of the gins that I had very pleasant experience with, was Caorunn Gin, so I was looking forward to tasting it in combinations with the 4 Tonic Waters. The bottle really stands out, especially the shape of it. Caorunn (read label for pronunciation) claims the Celtic heritage, since there’s some other famous gins being produced in Scotland and marketed as such (Hendrick’s, The Botanist and Old Raj being 3 of them). Next to 6 classic gin botanicals (Juniper, Lemonpeel, Coriander, Cassia, Orange Peel and Angelica) there are 5 ingredients specific to Caorunn. These are 5 botanicals that can be found in many parts of the world, but they have been used in Celtic medicine for ages: Rowan Berry, Bog Myrtle, Heather, Coul Blush Apple and Dandelion Leaf.

I found that the site of Caorunn Gin describes their heritage, production and ingredients very well and to-the-point. No need for me to rewrite or copy that, so make sure to check there!

The bottle: Both the 5-star symbol on the bottle and the shape of the bottle itself represent the 5 Celtic botanicals that are used in Caorunn Gin. It is quite a unique shape and it holds very nicely while working with it professionally. The neck is perfect for a hand to fit around it and swing the bottle upside-down to make a pour. The cork is also very well designed: thick and heavy with a wooden top.
95/100

The nose: Fresh pine and citrus are very strong when the spirit first hits your nose. To me this is an indication that it’s a gin that leans towards the classic gins, which turns out to be so, but there’s much more to it. Sweet fruity notes from the Rowan Berry (also the giver of the name Caorunn, which means berry in Celtic) and Coul Blush Apple appear directly after, giving it a very nice and specific character.
91/100

The contents: The first sip is, just like the nose, very fresh and full of juniper, pine and citrus: a walk in the woods. For a moment, the alcohol takes over a bit too much to lead to the middle part of the taste. This is much more sweet with a nice tingle on the sides of the tongue.

There’s a very long aftertaste, where a menthol-like coolness develops in your mouth (I suspect the Dandelion has this effect). Some very nice sweet notes appear in the end and here you can really taste the Heather and Bog Myrtle, at least I get some flavours that I can relate to from the description, since these are not in my standard palate. In Holland we have a type of liquorice that is based on Bay leaf which has a very comparable taste!
92/100 (97/1oo on just the aftertaste)

The mixability: Because of the 5 botanicals that are specific to Caorunn, it can serve as a base for some classic gin-drinks. Even more so, it can be an inspiration for a load of new drinks and I was curious to try Caorunn in my selection of Tonic Waters.

Fever Tree: Before I added the apple in this G&T, I could already taste the apple in it. The citrus notes were much gentler and the strong juniper was less dominant. The addition of apple makes this mix nice and extra fruity, but in my opinion it could use just a little more citrusflavours now.
9/10

Fentiman’s: This tonic is strong in bitter- and citrusnotes, so obviously this is a completely different mix. The bubble in Fentiman’s in much stronger, giving the mix the taste of apple much faster while it emphasises the lemon and coriander in Caorunn much better.
9.5/10

Thomas Henry: This combination is quite sweet and it works very well with Caorunn. I think the pleasantly sweet notes of the heather play a big role here, leaving a long and pleasantly sweet aftertaste.
9/10

1724: The most delicate of these tonic waters is 1724 and it leaves a lot of room for the Caorunn to move around. I just feel that the quinine in this tonic water dominates the taste, making it a little dry with very little citrus left in the taste.
8.5/10

Overall: This is a very nice gin to stock in your home-bar. If you are looking for one special gin, this is certainly one to take home with you. It mixes very well and I enjoyed it neat at least as much as in a g&t. The mix with Fentiman’s was the best-balanced combination, but differences in taste might lead you to other mixers no doubt. As things usually go.
92/100

One of the first gins that was introduced after the renewed interest in gins in the 90s, was Martin Miller’s. According to the brand’s story, Mr. Miller sat in a bar, contemplating on life with some good friends over a mediocre gin & tonic, when the idea of creating his own brand of gin sprang to mind. Miller was a photographer-turned-antiques connoisseur-turned-hotel owner, and had a good perception of the historic value of gin.

The 6 main botanicals in this gin are distilled in “Angela”, copper pot still built in 1904 by John Doore. The 3 stages of pot still-distillation are named Heads, Heart and Tails. The first part contains very strong alcohol and harsh flavours. The second part is the best part, well balanced. The third part is lower in alcohol and weaker in flavours. It is very common to re-use the heads and tails in a new distillation-cycle, but these are not re-used for Martin Miller’s, that only uses the heart of the distillate. The dried peels of the citrusfruits (Orange, lemon and lime) are distilled separately after which they are blended with the ‘base-spirit’.

To finalize the product, Martin Miller’s is blended with Icelandic water: in his vision this is the softest and purest water. On top of that, the Icelandic people believe that water is a living entity and has a spirit.

The bottle: The long and slender bottle displays the countries England and Iceland with a dotted line connecting these 2 with the background of longitude/latitude lines. It also displays the 6 main botanicals: Iris, Juniper, Cassia, Liquorice, Coriander and Angelica.
91/100

The nose: Strong juniper and angelica hit the nose immediately, waking up your senses. There’s a sweet undertone of liquorice, cinnamon and orange in the nose and some fresh notes of lemon and coriander.
If you leave the neat spirit in the glass for a little while, the citrus notes become more apparent.
94/100

The contents: The gin really blossoms in the mouth, with all classic gin tastes there: the juniper gives a pleasant sting, with the orris mellowing this nicely and connecting it at the same time with the sweeter notes I mentioned above. The different expressions of citrus play a more dominant role in the taste: orange, lemon and lime come in after the first juniper hit.
Note: this is the first gin of which my lovely Misses Cocktail says that it’s almost too good to mix, because it tastes amazing when drunk neat.
95/100

The mixability: Martin Miller’s is a great ingredient for mixing drinks, even though the Misses might disagree. Classic cocktails like the White Lady and Tom Collins should taste great. I tried it in the Dry Martini, stirred with Martini Extra Dry,  lemon bitters and a lemon zest.

But my main focus is of course with Tonic Water:

Fever Tree: These tastes combined generate more bitterness and a more earthy taste, which are a great addition to the taste. The citrus notes get a lot of room to flourish, mainly the orange which give it a long and sweet aftertaste.
9.5/10
Fentiman’s: The taste of this mix is a bit more soft than with Fever Tree, with a long and citrussy aftertaste. The bitters are more dominant,
8.5/10
1724: I had to use a little bit more gin to balance this mix, although the 1724 is the softest-tasting tonic water of these 3. The mix really benefits from adding fresh lemon to it
9/10

Overall: This is a true gem, and highly recommendable! It is both challenging for the very experienced and demanding gin-drinker and highly accessible for new members for the gin-appreciating part of the world. I’m very glad to have this spirit in my collection, to quench my appetite for juniper!
94/100

After a long weekend, this day feels like a Sunday to me, that’s why I probably  postponed the G&T Sunday posting to today. It’s been a great weekend and I celebrated being married to the Mrs for 1 year exactly last Saturday and treated our guests to a nice amount of G&T’s, which were happily accepted. The next day we enjoyed a friends’ birthday in the park in Amsterdam where we also filled the booze table with 2 nice transparent blue bottles of gin accompanied with some quality tonic. Again, people were happy with this. The gin-craze is slowly starting in Holland, a good 250 years after it ended in the UK (which was 1757 in case you’d like to know).

For this G&T review I choose The Botanist, which had been looking at me for some time from the spirit cabinet. Of course this wasn’t the first time for me to mix it at all, but sitting down and really describing what happens in several mixes is a different ballgame from enjoying one in the sun while reading.

This gin is created by the Bruichladdich Distillery which is located on the Isle of Islay, in the North-West of Scotland. This area is famous for it’s peaty whiskies and this distillery has always been in the centre of innovation since it’s opening in 1881. The still which produces The Botanist is a Lomond Still, the very last of its kind and affectionately called Ugly Betty. This is a steam powered, low-pressure still which takes 17 hours to complete the distillation cycle. And this gin requires two of them: 1 for the ‘standard’ gin botanicals and 1 to infuse the 22 local botanicals in the gin.

The result in taste is a complex, yet strangely accessible gin. The nose contains a lot of sweetness and freshness from the flowers, fruit, herbs and spices: there’s chamomile and elderflower, orange and mint. The juniper in this gin is quite strong, but never overpowering.  In the mouth there’s all these herbs that work together and the huge range of wild flowers they are using work their magic here. Getting the right ingredients at exactly the right time is a proof of intimate knowledge of local vegetation by the distiller. The one that stays there in the aftertaste in the mint (peppermint and water mint leaves). My taste buds are not that refined, so naming all ingredients is too far fetched for me, but you can find the complete list of botanicals on this great gin-blog (but please keep reading mine as well).

Schweppes Tonic: The Botanist benefits quite well from the strong bitter and sweet notes in Schweppes although it struggles to keep itself upright next to this tonic at some moments. The floral notes still shine through and the complexity of the gin still shows.
7.5/10

Fever Tree: These 2 meet each other in a soft and sweet middle taste, which works towards a slightly bitter aftertaste with long floral notes and a lovely taste of mint. I used a slice of lemon to balance the drink more.
8.5/10

Fentiman’s: The Botanist is quite low in citrus taste and benefits really well from the stronger citric notes in Fentiman’s Tonic. This tonic water contains kaffir lime and lemon and balances this gin in a great way. The sweet and floral notes in the gin get all the room they need to come through and are nicely balanced by the quinine.
9.5/10

Conclusion: The tonic water that compliments The Botanist best is Fentiman’s Tonic: in gins with higher levels of citrus notes (could be from lemon, coriander, orange etc) this tonic water tends to overpower, but here they go together just fine!

How to: I mixed 50 mls of The Botanist Gin with 100 ml tonic water in a longdrink filled with icecubes. For garnishing I used a lemonwedge. I tried it with lime, but found this too strong for my taste. I also tried orange and orangepeel and these proved to be quite pleasant as well, taking the drink to a sweeter side. If you prefer an ever more herbal taste, I tried it with a sprig of thyme which worked very nice as well.

I must admit that this gin is a somewhat difficult to find spirit, but since I left almost my entire stock of gins in G&T’s Really Really Nice Place last week, I had no choice but to dig in on my more exclusive stock. No worries though, as I wanted to treat myself to something special anyways, after the successful tour I did with Hidetsugu Ueno last week. We visited Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London for several masterclasses and we visited a fair amount of bars.

Back to the topic now, since it’s still Sunday while I’m writing this and  it’s best to finish before Monday kicks in.
I already reviewed the ‘normal’ Citadelle Gin here in the mix with Schweppes, and if you’d like to learn a bit about the story of the brand, please follow the link or go to their site.

Having a gin with such a colour in your glass is something special in itself: pale gold reveals the influence of barrel-aging and I can imagine that a long time ago most gins carried this colour as a result of transportation and storage. The nose of this gin is more smooth and sweet than that of the regular Citadelle, although that one has already some great sweet notes in its taste: cinnamon, orange and liquorice. In the taste, the wonderful high and citric notes from coriander, juniper and lemon are even more balanced after the maturation: more vanilla and peppery notes have been added and all work great together.

Schweppes: I decided to keep this brand in the testing, as it is the one that is readily available all over the world, as opposed to the other brands of Tonic Water. And even though it doesn’t come out on top most of the times, it is good for reference.
The softness of the gin somehow rules out the strong bitterness that normally dominates a G&T with Schweppes. The main flavour I’m getting is orange, which is actually quick pleasing. Long citric notes, along with the spices and peppery aftertaste still come through, making this a nice drink.
8.5/10

Fever Tree: Again, I get that feeling of excitement when I’m mixing with FT. The taste is soft and lingers to the sweet side, although some bitter notes remain in the aftertaste. The taste is fruity and floral, yet very mature and the extra depth that has been given to the gin still shines through in the mix with this tonic.
9.5/10

Fentiman’s: I always enjoy Fentiman’s as their bubble is very powerful, sending the aroma of the mix into the air. I needed to adjust the gin:tonic -ratio a bot to find the right balance – a little more gin is required in this mix versus the FT & Schhh. But the mix couldn’t really please me this time: the taste of Fentiman’s is a bit overpowering, especially the strong presence of lime. Should you be a great fan of strong lime in your G&T than you might like this better, but another gin with it is probably the best option.
8.0/10

Thomas Henry Elderflower Tonic: I received a sample of this a week or so ago and I figured this is a good occasion to test it, since there’s so many nice floral notes in the Citadelle Réserve. It’s a fun addition to the drink, but it’s one that you would really have to want. The quality of the tonic water is good and the flavour of elderflower is not artificial
8.0/10

Conclusion: The Citadelle Réserve 2011 is a great gin to mix with tonic, although it’s also great to sip neat, or to create a Dry martini with. It requires a soft Tonic Water to accompany it and Fever Tree is the obvious choice. Need I say more? Don’t think so!

The G’Vine people not only thought about the botanicals with which they wanted to create their gin, bus also about the base-spirit. Most gins are based on a neutral grain spirit, but G’Vine opted for a wine-alcohol which delivers a more smooth and soft taste to start off with. Another great addition they made to this gin is a special distillate of macerated grape flowers, that only flourish for a few days in June.

Next to these 2 distillates, another distillate is made with 9 botanicals. Some are traditional to gin, like Juniper (duh), Coriander, Cassia, Liquorice and Cardamom. But 4 others create an even more exotic flavour: Ginger Root, Cubeb Berries for some peppery notes, lime and nutmeg. The result is a wonderful combination of a soft and floral base with a very well balanced range of botanicals, great to sip neat, even better to mix! After that, all three distillates are blended together and distilled yet another time to perfection.

This week I decided to replace Schweppes with another Tonic water, so I’m going to look for a new addition (anyone got a good suggestion for me?). This week the free slot is for Thomas Henry Tonic from Germany.

Fever Tree: the nose of this combination is very soft, the flavours are kept sort of a secret until the first sip. A gentle bitterness at first – quinine of course, with the cardamom- combining very well with the nice citric notes from lime and coriander. The sweet notes from the nutmeg, cassia and liquorice form the middle part with the spicy notes appearing at the end.
9.5/10

Fentiman’s: the nose in this mix is much stronger with more perfume and citrus coming through. The strong limetones in Fentimans don’t overpower the citric notes in G’Vine, but compliment them. The stronger bitterness in the tonic also works great with the sweeter notes. The aftertaste is long and lingering, a pleasant surprise almost resembling a nice champagne.
9.5/10

Thomas Henry: A pleasantly sweet nose in this mix with the soft bubble of the tonic. The taste doesn’t start with bitter, but with the more sweet and floral notes. Soon after there’s the bitter notes of the quinine which somehow very much accentuates the cardamom and cubeb berries. The bitter notes stay all the way through the aftertaste
8.5/10

Conclusion: This is just a great gin, that is very versatile in mixing drinks. I liked all tonic waters very much with G’Vine, and, again, it comes down to personal taste which direction you want to take your G’Vine & Tonic. The mix with Fever Tree is very soft, where the mix with Fentiman’s is much more fresh. Thomas Henry makes a great mix as well, but the combination is not as good as with the other 2 tonic waters.

The story of Monkey47 is that of Montgomery Collins, who was posted in Berlin’s British sector after the end WWII. He was struck by the massive destruction that had taken place there and he decided to spend his time helping to rebuild it. His focus was the Berlin Zoo, where he became sponsor of a monkey called Max.

He left the air force in the early 50s, to start  a career in watchmaking. This turned out not be his calling, but he found himself in the Black Forest (Schwarzwald), a great natural area where he not only opened a guesthouse called “The Wild Monkey”, but also started making his own gin. He was British after all.

Montgomery kept the recipe a secret, hidden in a box in his guesthouse, which was discovered some 50 years later. It was decorated with the drawing of a monkey and the words “Max the monkey – Schwarzwalder Dry Gin”. In 2008 the recipe was restored and brought to market.

Lovely soft smell of juniper and lemon, slightly peppery and with floral notes.
All the flavours come to life in your mouth, very well balanced and although there are some main flavours to identify, the 47 different botanicals are working together so well that it’s difficult to identify each individual.

Schweppes: The delicate palate of Monkey47 does not match very well with the dominant flavours of Schweppes. Both the strong sweetness and the long bitterness in the tonic just overpower the gin. I stopped tasting there.
6.0/10

Fever Tree: This is a great combination: the soft citric notes and the juniper in Monkey47 stay upright because of the light flavour of Fever Tree. This tonic water has a subtle bitterness in it and it balances out very nicely with the sweet and floral notes in the gin. The mix is very smooth and I like it how many of the different berries in Monkey47 create a wonderful fruity flavour in here.
9.0/10

Fentiman’s: There’s a lot of citric notes in this mix and there’s an overlap in ingredients that Money47 and Fentiman’s are using: Kaffir lime. Together the sweeter and fruity notes work very well, giving it a very long aftertaste. The more floral notes in the gin, like Jasmin and Chamomile, are highlighted in the mix with Fentiman’s.
9.0/10

Conclusion: Both the Fever Tree and the Fentiman’s work great with Monkey47, which is a very well balanced yet delicate gin. I have given both mixes the same rating, but notice that the are not the same mixes at all! But I just like both combinations equally much

Almost 3 years ago, London saw the birth of a new distillery, the first one to be given a distillers’ license in almost 200 years. The founders, Sam Galsworthy and Fairfax Hall, and their master distiller, Jared Brown, wanted to distill London Dry Gin like it used to be done: in small batches, one shot and by pot-still. This already sets them apart from other new-comers, which were more focused on finding new ingredients to be used in a gin. To make sure they could achieve their mission, they sourced the best classical gin-ingredients from around the globe and they designed a still that they named Prudence, a word they derived off of a quote by Gordon Brown.

The gin is very smooth, almost buttery with the fresh pine taste of juniper coming through in the beginning. There are some very pleasant sweet notes like liquorice, cinnamon and orange in it, together with subtle floral notes from orris root. The finish has great citric notes in it from coriander and lemon-peel.

Schweppes: This combination is pretty smooth, but with a bite. It leaves a dry bitterness at the end, while the overall taste is sweet. It definitely needs lime in this mix, but even with fresh lime the Schweppes is the stronger agent of the 2.
7.5/10

1724: Soft and sweet is the first mouthfeel I get: the gentle bubble in the 1724 plays really nice with the Sipsmith, that releases a slight bitterness and at the same timegives room for the pleasant sweet notes. It leans a bit to the boring side however as they play along nicely but in the aftertaste it regains a bit of those pine flavours.
8.5/10

Fever Tree: Every aspect of the Sipsmith Gin gets room to move around in this mix. All the botanicals in it have just the space it needs, while it gets the right counterbalance by Fever Tree. Combined with some fresh lime it gets a very smooth and long finish with just a little bit of bitterness in it, the freshness of this mix is just great.
9.5/10

Thomas Henry: Again, a very soft nose and I get a lot of flavours right at the beginning: lots of lemon, pine and orange. Strangely, most of these flavours disappear in the middle, are overtaken by the sweeter notes after which the lemon returns full force. The aftertase is mainly lemon with some bitterness. It’s interesting how it developes: it’s a very fresh mix but it loses some points due to ‘middle part’.
8/10

Fentiman’s: The combined citric tones in the tonic and gin make this a very refreshing mix. Fresh lime is still needed though, to prevent it from becoming perfumed. There’s a long bitterness in the aftertaste, although there’s an all-over pleasant sweet taste to this mix.
9/10

Conclusion: Sipsmith Gin is an amazing product and the creators have rally achieved thier goals. It mixes wonderfully with Fentiman’s and Fever Tree and it comes down to personal taste which of the two one prefers. For me, the mix with Fever Tree had a more complete taste so in my opionion the best mixer with Sipsmith Gin!