Gin O’Clock – Part Seventy
Every gin needs a back story in order to elbow its way through the crowd of competitors that have been spawned by the ginaissance. Needle Blackforest Distilled Dry Gin is no different. I came upon a bottle at the Duty Free shop in Schipol Airport, my eye drawn to its dark green bell-shaped bottle with a distinctive diamond-shaped label with a stylised motif of pine needles. It was rebranded in February 2019 and the designers have made a good job of giving the bottle a contemporary feel.
It is a German gin, distilled by the Bimmerle distillery in Achern, a town in the south-west of Germany and, crucially for this story, is at the northern end of the Black Forest. The gin is supposed to be inspired by the forest and, in particular, the specific and distinctive smells to be encountered whilst wandering through the woods. I suppose I will have to take their word for it as I have never had a walk through the Black Forest and I suspect many who have drunk the gin will say the same. It smacks of marketing spin with a dash of pretension.
The smell and taste picture that the distillers are trying to conjure up allows them to introduce their distinguishing botanical, picea abies, better known as the common or Norwegian spruce. Yes, it is the one that we stick up and decorate just before Christmas and whose needles we find in unusual places for the next six months. What better use for these pesky needles than to put them in the distillation mix for a gin? It is the smell of the needles, so the blurb says, that is so redolent of the Black Forest region.
The other botanicals that make up the mix, there are eleven in all, include juniper, lavender, ginger, lemons and oranges providing the citrus notes, cinnamon and allspice. For those who can count you will realise that three are missing. These are the secret botanicals whose identity the manufacturers will not disclose. The recipe upon which the gin is based dates back to 1799, according to the label at the back of the bottle.
One of the ancillary benefits of exploring gins from other countries is that it allows you to brush up your language skills. My knowledge of German is rudimentary but with the help of an on-line translator I have managed to unlock the contents of the blurb on the back of the label. In truth it is not very revelatory but it confirms that the basis of distillation is single-batch and that “the spicy air of the Black Forest and the use of native hand picked botanicals such as spruce needles – are the crowning glory of our Needle Gins”.
The top is an artificial cork with Needle and the spruce needles stamped on. On removing the top the aroma is distinctive, juniper is in there somewhere and there is a dash of citrus but the smell is predominantly of pine needles. In the mouth the spirit seems well-balanced with the spruce and juniper blending surprisingly well. The citrus elements seem to hide in the background, though, and the aftertaste is dry and spicy.
At 40% ABV it makes for a pleasant drink but I felt it needed some help by way of a quality tonic to bring it to life. You could distinguish all of the components and the overall impression it left was fine but it seemed a bit of a monotone production. There was little in the way of a surprise as you explored the gin in your mouth or swallowed it. Perhaps I’m becoming too picky.
Until the next time, cheers!
