When I was planning my trip to Junipalooza last year, Koval wasn’t particularly high on my list. But I got drawn to that beautiful laser-cut label and then couldn’t resist a sample either. And as I tasted both their Dry and Barrelled Gin, and learnt more about Koval, I got more and more drawn in, for theirs is a pretty impressive story.
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What a year 2018 has been for gin! Sales have been rocketing and the bubble isn’t going to burst any time soon. We’ve seen, as a consequence, every ‘gin’ imaginable join the fray, from Hubba Bubba Bubblegum Gin to shimmering spirits and, of course, sugar-saturated pink gins galore! But, for now, let’s forget the ridiculous and focus on the sublime. Here are my top ten for 2018 and this year it was harder than ever to pick them! Keep reading for your chance to win a bottle of Brentingby!
You might just about tempt me with gin-cured salmon during the festive season but, to be honest, the only place I really want to find gin at Christmas is under the tree or in my glass! Here are seven cracking cocktails to see you through the bleak midwinter.
I suspect we’ve all had days when we’ve travelled to work and dreamt of better ways to spend our time. Alan Bottomley, an engineer, was driving to his job when the idea struck him to “make gin and grow Christmas trees”! Although it took a little while to win round his partner, Amy Conyard, his idea wasn’t quite as crazy as it may first sound. His father, Stansfield Bottomley, used to make whisky in the mid-1950s and Alan grew up watching him, fascinated, before learning the process himself in the early 1990s. So it was that, in 2016, Alan and Amy decided to take the plunge and Bottomley Distillers was born.
With the gin bubble showing no signs of bursting just yet, there’s no end of juniper-related gifts on the market this Christmas. Here’s just a few of my favourites for the gin-lover in your life, whether they be book-lovers, young at heart or more charitably minded.
They say good things come to those who wait. Well, I’ve just received something very good and I didn’t even know I was waiting for it. Which is just as well, as it would have been a very, very long wait! For I’ve just received 6 O’Clock Gin‘s new Five Year Aged Sloe Gin!
I’ve been a firm fan of Trevethan Gin ever since I first tasted it courtesy of Little Gin Box, when it sailed straight into my top ten of 2016. Not long after, in my rave review of early 2017, I admired their modest ambition – that anyone opening a bottle should “remember the reason it was created by Norman Trevethan in the first place (was) to be shared” – and tipped them for greatness. They may not have gone for world domination (yet) but boy have they been busy – adding not one, not two, but three more gins to their range – and I’ve been lucky enough to get my mitts on every one.
Provenance is undoubtedly popular these days – after all who doesn’t like the feelgood factor of buying something local? – but, like anything that matters, it’s not easy to get right. There’s confusion about names (my friend up north is forever confusing Slingsby and Harrogate gins); there’s the all-important matter of honesty and authenticity (it recently transpired Snowdonia Gin is actually made over the border in Warrington); and then, to really mean something, provenance needs to go beyond the name to the product itself. It’s not just what the gin is called and where it’s made that matters, but also what it’s made of and why. Provenance is about stories and people, botanicals and landscapes. And to do provenance properly it all needs to connect with that community.
Launched at Junipalooza 2018, Jekka’s Edition is 6 O’Clock Gin‘s latest addition to their range, joining their eponymous London Dry, Sloe Gin, Damson Gin and last year’s Brunel Edition. As suggested by the beautiful transparent bottle, this is the lightest and most delicate offering from 6 O’Clock but, far from being a departure, this gin remains true to their roots.
We were promised bigger and better at Catford Gin Festival this year and it certainly did not disappoint! It’s a measure of how much Team Catford value this small but perfectly formed event in their efforts to drive regeneration that, in the space of a year, the festival has moved from 2017’s empty retail unit down the road, to the Art Deco grandeur of Catford’s Broadway Theatre. With the imposing venue came higher ticket prices but, with a brochure, copa de balon glass and tote bag for every attendee as well as free tasters of all the gins available, it still offered excellent value for money. Especially with such an impressive line-up!
