Gin O’Clock – Part Forty Nine
Regular topers will know that occasionally the ingestion of an alcoholic beverage can prompt moments of introspection and philosophical reflection. If we followed the latest advices of the health police and eschewed all alcohol – apparently, even the teensy-weeniest amount can be injurious to your health – these moments would be lost to us.
I found as I was contemplating a glass of The London No 1 Gin that my thoughts passed to the psychological impact of the colour of a drink. Not to put too fine a point on it; should a drink ever be blue in colour? Call me an old traditionalist, but to me a blue drink is a bit off-putting and, well, beyond the pale.
But the rather grandiosely named London No 1 Gin is a turquoise blue. When I picked up a bottle at the Alicante airport duty-free shop I had assumed that the blue of the bottle, a rather delightful aquamarine, it has to be admitted, was the colour of the glass a la Bombay Sapphire. But when I opened the artificial cork stopper and poured the gin out, I was surprised to find that it was the hooch that bore the colour and not the glass of the bottle.
This put the gin on the back foot as far as I was concerned but, fortunately, there was more than enough about it to redeem it in my estimation.
Although it is distributed by the Spanish company, Gonzales Byass, the drink is actually distilled, as the name suggests, in London. The base spirit is made from grain sourced from Suffolk and Norfolk. The recipe uses twelve botanicals – juniper, angelica root, coriander, almond, bergamot, liquorice, cinnamon, citrus peel, savory, cassia bark and orris root. Perhaps the most intriguing element is the bergamot, which has a distinctive spicy, floral smell. Just think of Earl Grey tea. After distillation, the mix is rested for three weeks before being bottled at an impressive fighting weight of 47%.
To the nose, the first sensation is one of flowers but as you breathe in the heavier juniper and spicy notes with a hint of liquorice come to the fore. In the mouth it is a subtle blend of sweeter floral notes and spices with juniper and citrus coming to the fore as you savour it. The aftertaste is intense, spicy with the liquorice coming to the fore again. It is a lovely, well balanced drink, a classic gin with a contemporary twist.
Let’s get back to the colour.
It is achieved by infusing with gardenia flowers in the maceration process. Whether it is necessary is another question but undoubtedly it gives it a unique twist, which is needed in the crowded market place prompted by the ginaissance. As the laconic labelling states, in what I take as a rather ironic twist, in red lettering, it is the No 1 Original Blue Gin and let’s hope it stays that way.
The bottle is a lovely bell shape and the stopper makes a wonderful, inviting sound as you remove it. What is lacking in information on the bottle’s label is more than made up by a little brochure attached to the neck which extols the hooch’s virtues in three languages.
Despite my misgivings, it is a lovely drink. I will just have to close my eyes when I raise my glass.
Until the next time, cheers!
