Ginmas Week 2

Well there have been another seven gins sampled since the last post and it has been a real voyage of discovery and actually also of geography.

This week we have been all over the place, from Menorca to Yorkshire to Spain to Scotland and I have loved finding out a little bit more about each distillery or gin.   So for posterity, here they all are in case you want to read up on them a bit more.  Like the first bunch if any of them tickle your fancy you can buy them all online from The Gin Parlour.   Ooh and whilst you are there do look up their handy Christmas Gift ideas for the gin lover in your life.

The fifth gin from my advent calendar was from Martin Miller.

Whilst the distillation of the nine botanicals is done here in England what sets this gin apart from others is the water it is mixed with. Spring water from Iceland no less, married to the botanicals after a journey that takes ten days (And depending on where the finished product is being shipped the water either goes to the botanicals or the botanicals go to Iceland). Some of the purest water on earth and why Icelander’s believe that water is a living entity Has a magic quality about it. And one that makes this bottle of gin just a little bit special

Number six was on Tuesday and it came from Siderit

A Spanish London gin which sounds slightly bonkers but London gin refers to the process rather than the location. So Spanish London gin is a thing, a fabulous thing. And where many gins are distilled in copper stills this one from @ginsiderit is made in a glass still. The name comes from the Syderitis Hissopifokia plant, or rock tea, which grows near where the gin is made in Cantabria. The batches are only 25L at a time and it’s clear there’s a real Spanish passion behind this gin. It’s crisp with a real floral flavour to it.

My seventh might possibly be one of my favourites so far, from Mason’s.

Made in Yorkshire, unlike Yorkshire tea! Did you see the furore on twitter during the week when Yorkshire Tea were asked which in Yorkshire they grew?! Sparked responses saying “don’t tell him there are no virgins in the oil” and my response of “don’t tell him Mars bars don’t come from the actual planet” made it into the Daily Mail. Oh dear. But back to the gin. Made in a copper still called Steve this is made in small batches right in the heart of the county.

The eighth was from Menorca

The one on the right is the reason why the one on the left in the picture got a U in her English Lit O Level The one on the left is me aged 15 and the one on the right is a gin made on Menorca where I had gone to revise for my O levels over Easter with friends. Except I didnt open a single book as there were sailors, cheap seafood and gin. So when this gin came out of door 8 on my #ginmas calendar today it all came flooding back And I’ve still got no idea what happens in the Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Friday night and it couldn’t have come soon enough so the 6 O Clock gin was very welcome

 6 O’clock gin is so named because that is gin O’clock, right, the time I’m sharing my daily ginmas posts. It’s made in a traditional copper still called Kathleen, my grandmother’s name so this feels a bit special. This gin packs a huge punch of juniper and it’s suggested “you leave the fruit cocktail out” as the gin does the talking.   I have to agree. 

Day 10 of ginmas and it was up to Scotland for Edinburgh Gin

Every one raves about the rhubarb gin from this distillery so when I saw them at the Good Food Show I had to buy a bottle, as well all the others they do.     Their philosophy is simple, begin at the beginning, go on until you come to the end: then stop. They have two stills Flora and Caledonia and are based in a road named after Rutland, the smallest county in England, which also happens to be where I grew up so it was another one with a bit of a nostalgic connection. A gin with fresh juniper, citrus, orris root, heather and milk thistle. You can almost taste Scotland.

The last one for the week was number 11 and my first sloe gin so far.

We made sloe gin once. We bought a really good gin to use. We washed and prepared our fruit. We bought a pretty bottle. We printed a gorgeous label. We stored it in the dark for three months We then found out they weren’t sloes but poisonous laurel berries. So thank goodness for Warner Edwards and their fabulous sloe gin. And in fact all their gin. It’s the 11th of my #ginmas trip this month and my first sloe, though it’s not the first time I’ve had this one. It was the first distillery I ever visited and we got to try them all. I was fascinated to see the process and their German made still called Curiosity up close and personal. The spring water and ingredients come from their farm and it’s all made in site and every bottle finished by hand This company is run by two friends who wanted to do something together and originally it was making distilling essential oils until they then realised they could make the most incredible gin.

It is hard to believe that this time in two weeks it will be Boxing Day and Christmas will be behind us!