There’s no denying that the most exciting thing to happen to me this month had to be meeting Papa Salt Gin co-founder (and the one-and-only Barbie!) Margot Robbie, but I’ve actually had the pleasure of attending two other fabulous events in addition to the brilliant Papa Salt press launch. Read on to find out more!

Booze News

Plenty of news has caught my attention this month. Alongside London’s Imbibe Live rebranding to BCB London, it’s been heartening to hear that – having declared insolvency earlier this year – Elephant Gin have now secured their future with new buyer Carl-Lambert Leisewitz. Having also followed the goings on at BrewDog fairly closely over the years I was also intrigued, but not exactly surprised, to read that they will allow their claim to be a carbon negative brewery to lapse. Their explanation for doing so sounds rather spurious to me but I’ll let you reach your own conclusions (without getting myself into any hot water!).

The truly shocking and saddening news, however, has to be the massive tank explosion at Jose Cuervo’s tequila distillery in Mexico which tragically resulted in the death of six workers.

New Gin Alerts

There’s been an interesting selection of both new gins and new-look gins this month. In the former category we have Raspberry Gin from Conker, a travel retail exclusive Mediterranean Expression from Silent Pool and 5 Puffins Gin from Chef Alex Dilling, which features notes of bergamot and citrus.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s Hernö Distillery have released a new-look, lighter and locally-made bottle across their range, Scotland’s Isle of Harris Gin have launched their latest limited-edition Harris Cèilidh Bottle in a stunning yellow tone inspired by the summer wildflowers of the Outer Hebrides, and Malfy Gin and Missoni have collaborated to produce an exclusive limited-edition bottle of Malfy Gin Rosa draped in Missoni’s trademark zigzag print.

My Month in Gin

I had the immense honour to kick off the month by joining the International Spirits Challenge Flavoured Gin judging panel for the first time. Under the wonderful guidance of Chair Judge Joanne Moore – Master Distiller at G&J Distillers – we judged over 70 gins categorised by flavour profile and also – very interestingly – by sugar content. As expected, there were an awful lot of generic pink berry-flavoured products, but we were also treated to plenty of other flavours from floral and tropical fruits to coffee, spice and saffron. With some truly excellent products in contention, I look forward to the results being announced on 12th August.

I also had the pleasure of attending a trio of wonderful events starting with Bathtub Gin’s Summer of Punch hosted by lifestyle influencer Genevieve Harris (aka @mrs_trufflepig) at the fabulous Clapton Tram. The weather outside may have been frightful, but inside we were treated to a lovely buffet lunch alongside a selection of delicious drinks: Count Negroni’s Punch (lengthened with Blood Orange Soda), Trufflemelon Punch featuring watermelon, mint and lime, and Garden of England Punch with notes of blackberry, cherry and basil. The perfect stress-free way to entertain this summer, I’ll definitely be mixing up a bowl or two of punch soon!

With the summer of sport in full swing, I was also delighted to join The Sipsmith Sipping Society to watch the Wimbledon Ladies Final at The Century Club. The exclusive event included a marvellous martini masterclass, a fascinating Q&A with former tennis pro Johanna Konta and a deconstructed tasting of the society’s new limited edition Rosewater Gin, which is a tribute to the women’s Wimbledon trophy – the Venus Rosewater Dish – and inspired by both the grace and strength of female champions, and also the plants and flowers that grow at the All England Club.

Finally I had the enormous pleasure and a privilege of meeting the co-founders of Papa Salt Gin – Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Charlie Mass, Josey McNamara and Regan Riskas – at an intimate industry event at Jeru London. The five fast friends shared with us the story of their five-year journey to create Papa Salt Gin, which started with blending distillates in their backyards and ended with developing an Australian gin alongside head distiller Brian Restall at Lord Byron Distillery. Then “Dad” of the group Charlie Maas (who has many years of industry experience at family business Dancing Goat Distillery) secretly entered their 59th iteration into the LA Spirits Awards to stop the others from continuing to tinker with their recipe. And the Platinum Award they received certainly did just that!

It was a truly memorable evening and there’s so much more to share – from the story behind the name, to that stunning bottle and Charlie’s assessment of each of his friends’ roles in the project (Margot is described as “the strategist”) – but that will have to wait for a longer piece (which, if anyone would like to commission, would make me extraordinarily happy!). For now, trust me, this is much more than just another celebrity spirit and one well worth seeking out. 

Welcome to My Collection

There’s been no shortage of additions to my collection this month. Many thanks to Bathtub Gin for their Summer of Punch goody bag, to Session Spirit for a bottle of their newly rebranded London Dry spirit drink which comes in at 25% ABV, and to Two Drifters for their new and improved Lightly Spiced Rum which is now made using waste cacao husks from the chocolate industry.

Thanks also to Sipsmith for a bottle of their pleasingly dry Rosewater Gin which features rose, apple blossom, lavender and lemon verbena; to Papa Salt for their citrus-forward gin and spicy Coastal Gin, which is created using Albanian juniper alongside the 11 botanicals which are all locally sourced in Australia including oyster shell, roasted wattleseed, hibiscus, wax flower and pink peppercorn; and to Palmaráe for selecting me as a competition winner of their new Gin Premier Cru.

And, last but not least, thanks to Artisan Drinks for a selection of their scrumptious new sodas, to Botivo for this cute keyring and to me for treating me to these stunning glasses from Lagom!

Catching Up and Looking Forward

I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks off next month so I might be a little quieter than usual, but do keep an eye out for my latest Drinksbiz column all about British rum. In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful summer and see you on the other side!🍸🛎🛎