Gin Magazine Jul/Aug 2022

Escaping to the warm sun and white sands of a desert island is an oft-repeated trope in the realms of relaxation and recuperation. Despite the fact that islands are often associated with significant physical and mental anguish in popular culture (ask Tom Hanks in Castaway, Daniel Defoe’s unlucky protagonist Robinson Crusoe, or anyone who’s taken part in The Island with Bear Grylls), western society perpetuates the belief that spending time on a peaceful rock in the middle of the ocean, unencumbered by the strains and stresses of modern life, will help to restore balance to even the most troubled soul. Travel operators tell us we should seek sun, sea and sand in any prospective holiday destination; beauty brands picture farflung tropical paradises to showcase the simultaneously relaxing and invigorating power of their…

Which country drinks the most gin? This is a question that I’m asked from time to time. Despite the spirit’s popularity in the UK, Spain, and Australia, the answer (as some informed readers may already know) is the Philippines, at least on the face of it. A single brand, Ginebra San Miguel (GSM), sold an astonishing 31.2 million (ninelitre) cases in 2020, which compares with 6.7 million cases for Gordon’s and 4.3 million for Bombay. Ginebra San Miguel is mostly consumed domestically within the Philippines and, in 2020, was the second largest spirit brand in the world after the South Korean Soju brand Jinro. All of GSM’s gins appear to be compounded, which means that they are made by combining flavour essences with a neutral base alcohol, in this case made from…

Aviation American Gin is stepping up preparations to open its new distillery and visitor centre in Oregon. The contemporary gin brand has appointed industry veteran Hollie Stephenson (pictured) as distillery director of the new Aviation Gin Distillery and visitor centre, which is set to open its doors to the public later this year. Located in Aviation’s hometown of Portland, the new distillery will include an interactive tasting room and will offer tours, gin tastings, and cocktail flights. Hollie has previously worked in both drinks production and visitor experience roles. Most recently she was head brewer at Guinness, helping to build the beer brand’s foot in North America. As Aviation Gin’s distillery director, she will oversee the distilling and bottling operations, visitor centre and tasting room. On her new role, Hollie said: “When I…

Sorted Food, the UK-based social media movement focused on home cooking, has partnered with Sloemotion Distillery to launch a gin liqueur. The Strawberry Gin Liqueur with Vanilla and Black Pepper is the first drink released by Sorted Food, which has a following of almost 2.6 million on YouTube and 292,000 on Instagram. It comes after Sorted Food featured Yorkshire’s Sloemotion Distillery in a video on its YouTube channel and commended its environmentally friendly ethos, including its support of local rewilding and biodiversity projects. To create the liqueur, the teams used strawberries that were grown in Yorkshire by farmer and food entrepreneur Annabel Makin-Jones. They diverted surplus fruit from Annabel’s farm (which supports her business, Annabel’s Deliciously British) and combined them with Sloemotion’s Hedgerow Gin. The distillery uses a temperature-efficient still to distil its gin,…

Cambridge Distillery in England is flexing its innovative muscles once again with the launch of its Vintage 2021 Spring/Summer Gin. The distillery – creator of the groundbreaking Anty, Japanese and Three Seasons Gins – believes its limited-edition vintage gin could be a ‘world first’ of its kind. It was created using botanicals that were foraged locally in the spring and summer of 2021 in a bid to capture the essence of the shifting English seasons. Billed as a “collector’s item”, the gin will be available exclusively through fine wine and spirits merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd. The gin was distilled using the company’s novo-dimensional distillation system, in which nine variables including temperature, pressure and time can be adjusted for the distillation of each botanical. These separate distillates are then blended together to create…

If you’re looking for summery additions to your gin collection, why not give these a try? Tarquin’s is brightening the summer with its Pink Dry Gin. Distilled with 14 botanicals including rare pink lemons, pink grapefruit and pink peppercorns, it is designed to combine traditional pink gin fruitiness with the botanical notes of a dry gin. It comes hot on the heels of the English distillery’s first gin and tonic cans, which combine its flagship Tarquin’s Cornish Dry Gin with a light tonic water. Whitley Neill has two new expressions out this summer. Its Pineapple Gin has been inspired by travels to the Americas and is distilled using Costa Rican pineapples, while its Peach Gin is full of juicy stone fruit flavours from the South African peaches that founder Johnny Neill enjoys…