You know how chuffed I was when I finally got the last letter of my gin alphabet last year? To finally be able to line up up all 26 bottles felt like a real achievement. If collecting gin can be classed as an achievement. If you have no idea what I am talking about, take a peak at this blog post: My A-Z of Gin
But it got me thinking about what the next “achievement” might be, and I seriously considered collecting countries. I am quite a long way there already with gins from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, Finland, Iceland, Germany, the US, France, Spain and Japan. I even have a gin that has been made with botanicals that have been to the moon. Not quite sure how I would collect something from a country where alcohol is illegal but I like a challenge 🙂
I was thrilled therefore when I was asked recently if I wanted to try a new Indian gin called Jaisalmer. Not just made from an Indian recipe but distilled and bottled in India and named after the grand city of Jaisalmer in the state of Rajasthan. The town goes back to the 1100s, the gin is infinitely younger obviously but is made in one of India’s oldest distilleries in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The bottle itself looks amazing on my gin shelves because being black frosted glass it stands out from the mostly transparent bottles that surround it. If you look at it closely you can see that the gold logo is the same colour as the Jaisalmer Fort for which the region is famous (and is shown between the black buck’s horns too).
Yes, I hear you say, but what of the gin itself? Well it contains juniper (obviously, it isnt gin without juniper), cubeb pepper, lemon peel, caraway seeds, angelica root, licorice, coriander, lemon grass, vetiver, sweet orange peel and Darjeeling tea. It is a stunning combination and out of the 11 botanicals, 7 of them are from India.
To be honest anything with tea in it gets my vote but there is a sweetness, a woodiness and warmth to this gin that I love. When you first smell it you get a real waft of lemons (enhanced I think by the addition of lemonade, not tonic).
I remember being blown away when I first met my in laws and they ordered G&Ts in the Indian restaurant we were in to have alongside their curry. I remember thinking, surely you drink beer with curry, not gin?
How wrong I was, and how right this is.
You can buy online from The Whisky Exchange for £34.95.
Sample bottle sent for review