Gin o’Clock – Part Forty Five
I’m not normally much of a share picker but I seem to have chosen a winner when a few years ago I invested some of my hard-earned cash in shares in a relatively unknown drinks company called fever-Tree. The ginaissance continues apace with gin sales doubling in the last six years, reaching a heady £1.2 billion in the year ending September 2017, and as we need something to put mix in it, it didn’t seem too much of a bet to invest in a company that produces premium mixers. By July of this year the market cap of Fever-Tree stood at around £4.5 billion. I’ve bailed out but I’ve made enough to fund a few more bottles of my favourite spirit.
I’ve always been a bit suspicious of all things organic. Does the reputed improvement in taste – it may be my taste buds but I’ve never noticed a significant difference – really justify all the effort and the additional cost? If you really want to enjoy the taste of a vegetable, then there is no substitute to growing your own.
Such is the battle amongst distillers to create a market differentiator for their product that it was only a question of time before an organic gin popped up. Never one to let my prejudices and scepticism get in the way of exploring the outer reaches of the ginaissance, I picked up a bottle of Juniper Green Trophy Organic and Wild Gin from the shelves of the Aladdin’s cave that is the Constantine Stores. It claims to be, and I have no reason to doubt it, the world’s first organic gin. The label bears the Prince of Wales’ coat of arms and states it is by appointment to Charlie boy but don’t let that put you off.
The base of the spirit is made from grain, organic naturally, and the botanicals used are all organic, juniper, coriander, angelica root and summer savory. The latter, used to add a bit of sweetness to the mix, is grown and hand-picked in Somerset whilst the juniper is certified as Fair Wild which means, apparently, that it is harvested in a sustainable manner. The label on the rear of the bottle also has vegan and organic Soil Association accreditations and states that it is suitable for coeliacs, vegetarians and vegans.
All good to know and very worthy but what does it taste like?
Well, surprisingly good. It is perfectly clear and at 43% ABV has a bit of a kick to it. What I particularly liked about it was that it was a simple gin, not overwhelmed by too many botanicals, and the taste when the glass stopper was removed from the bottle was overwhelmingly of juniper with hints of citrus and spice coming through. To the taste it was smooth with a hint of spice, pepper and citrus and left a wonderful spicey, juniper-laden after taste. Did I detect the added-vim of organically produced ingredients coming through? I’m not sure and whilst it was the classic style gin that I like, there are better ones on the market.
The bottle is slightly squat and the label has a green background with the lettering primarily in a gold bordered white. Again, it was not one that would stand out in the crowd. The gin is distilled in London, by the Thames Distillery, which the company claims to be the only gin distillery which both distils and bottles gin in the capital. Such are the margins required to create a differentiator.
Until the next time, cheers!
