It’s hard to imagine there was a time in my life when gin was something unknown to me. How did it happen? I have no idea. All I know is, it’s an elegant spirit of choice for any occasion.
This magical drink made of a special combination of botanicals is also an excellent Christmas gift to celebrate this festive season with style. Besides, it’s a fine addition to a place in any drink cabinet. I understand that it’s difficult sometimes to find the perfect crafted gin to go for. So, here it’s a handy guide that might help you choose the best ones to treat your family and friends this Christmas.
Table of Contents
Jaisalmer
£35.45, The Whisky Exchange
Triple-distilled and handcrafted in the foothills of the Himalayas at one of India’s oldest distilleries, Jaisalmer Indian Craft Gin encapsulates the rich heritage of the Indian City of Jaisalmer, with a recipe that combines the ancient knowledge of herbs and spices, vibrant juniper berries and hand-picked botanicals from all four corners of India.
A festive cocktail is the Jaisalmer Peppertini:
Pour 50 ml Jaisalmer Indian Craft Gin, 20 ml pink peppercorn syrup, 20 ml fresh lemon juice and 40 ml pink grapefruit juice into a shaker. Shake and double strain into a pre-chilled coupe glass.
(To make peppercorn syrup add crushed pink peppercorns to a simple Monin sugar syrup to infuse).
Jawbox
£35, Sainsbury’s
Jawbox Small Batch Gin recently won The Quality Drinks Award 2018 Best Gin at the Quality Food and Drink Awards. It is the perfect gin to use for all your party and cocktail serves during the Christmas and New Year Festivities.
Judged by a panel selected from 400 industry experts you can be sure that you will be serving your guests a gin of the highest quality which is an excellent spirit base for your festive cocktail serves.
Why not try this delicious and easy-to-make cocktail?
Jawbox Breakfast Martini:
Add 25 ml Jawbox Small Batch Gin, 25 ml Jawbox Rhubarb and Ginger Gin Liqueur, 10ml lemon juice, 50ml cranberry juice, 1 x egg white, 2 tsp marmalade into a cocktail shaker and dry shake first, add ice and wet shake.
Fine strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with either a twist of orange or raspberries on a cocktail stick.
Cotswolds
£34.95, Cotswolds Distillery
My tour and gin-tasting experience at Cotswolds Distillery served to educate me about the art of producing this top-notch spirit. Cotswolds Dry Gin is a multi-award gin with fresh notes of grapefruit with earthy coriander backed up by sweet, piney juniper. Plus, a hint of perfumed Cotswolds lavender.
It works perfectly in a bittersweet classic Negroni recipe:
This is a straight-up, no-fuss mix of the perfect sweet vermouth, bittersweet Campari & luxurious freshness of the gin.
INGREDIENTS
- 25ml Cotswolds Dry Gin
- 25ml Campari Bitters
- 25ml Sweet Vermouth
HOW TO CREATE
Place all ingredients into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass, stir & serve.
Embellish: twist of grapefruit peel
Black Tomato
£37.95, The Whisky Exchange
I have tried Black Tomato at a local gin festival once and it was enough to fall for it. I have never tried something like this before.
This awarded Dutch gin is made from black tomatoes from Sicily with nuances of Merlot and salt. It’s what can be called a unique experience inside a single bottle of gin. Just go for it!
For cocktails, we can prepare a (hot, hot, hot) Black Snipper
Ingredients:
- 60 ml Black Tomato
- 90ml Tomato juice
- 10 ml Dry Sherry
- 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
- 3 Dashes of Tabasco pepper
- 1 pinch of Black pepper
- 1 pinch of salt
Garnish: tomato foam and black carrot
Brockmans
£28.49, The Drink Supermarket
The local brand Brockmans is a gem of the Midlands. Its fine combination of botanicals is distilled in a 100-year-old traditional copper still in Langley Distillery in the Black Country.
Brockmans unique recipe of naturally grown aromatic botanicals aissteeped in pure grain spirit for many hours to release their natural oils and aromas.
The more traditional notes of gin are combined with a refreshing influence of citrus and aromatic wild berries. Bulgarian coriander plays its part, providing an aromatic, gingery orange top note.
It’s an elegant and smooth gin that is slowly distilled in a 100-year-old traditional copper still.
Here is the recipe for a Warm Winter Mull to try this Christmas.
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