Gin O’Clock – Part Forty Two
If you want to know what gin heaven might look like, you could do no worse than visit the Constantine Stores, near Falmouth, the front for the worldwide spirits distribution operation that is drinkfinder.co.uk. My picture shows just a subset of the many and varied gins that are available. I exercised a degree of self-control on my recent visit, buying just half a dozen bottles.
It pays to do a bit of research before entering this Aladdin’s cave as you can easily be overwhelmed by the sheer range of bottles available. During my stay at the splendid Trengilly Wartha, it was barmaid, Emily’s birthday, and on the recommendation of the owner of drinkfinder she was presented with a bottle of Hernö Gin. I was allowed to smell it – it had a big hit of juniper with some spicy elements coming through – and I was hooked. I had to get a bottle.
Herno is from Sweden, distilled from around 2012 in the village of Dala, near Härnösand, in a 250 litre copper pot named Kierstin. The base spirit is wheat based and the botanicals used are mainly of Swedish origin. At first glance, the core components of the gin – juniper, coriander, cassia, black pepper and lemon peel – come straight of the classic recipe for a London Dry Gin. What gives Hernö its particular twist is the addition of meadowsweet, lingon berries and vanilla.
Meadowsweet is a herbal flower with a sweet smell and taste to it. You might find it giving a bit of a kick to your pot of pot-pourri and medicinally it is used to cure headaches – a gin with its own in-built hangover cure, I like that. It also flavours a range of foodstuffs but a word of warning. It is banned by the Americans and so if the gin is to make it Stateside, it will need to be replaced by something like yarrow, as Hendrick’s had to do. Lingon berries grow in the wild in Sweden and whilst they are sour to the taste they contain a high percentage of sugar, adding a mellow sweetness to the hooch.
The bottle is dumpy, almost bell-shaped with an artificial cork stopper which makes a satisfying pop when it is opened. The label and the band around the neck of the bottle are a darkish blue in colour with the coat of arms of Härnösand below the name of the gin in a rather contemporary-looking script. It is rather subdued as labels go, very Swedish and one that would not stand out on a crowded shelf. Its ABV is 40.5% and bottles are 500ml, rather than the normal 70ml, making it quite an expensive buy. The label at rear tells me that my bottle is number 1280 from batch 267.
As might be expected from the initial smell, this gin is heavily juniper led, no bad thing in my book, with a floral note coming through, almost certainly from the meadowsweet. As I rolled the gin in my mouth I began to detect the citrus and then at the end and certainly in the aftertaste, there was a gorgeous peppery, spicy finish. Perhaps it is my tastebuds but the vanilla didn’t come through as I thought it would do.
My conclusion was that it is a very subtle, well balanced, refreshing and moreish gin and one well worth seeking out and digging deep into the wallet for. Styled as Sweden’s first artisanal gin it was certainly a welcome addition to my collection as I continue to surf the ginaissance.
