Gin O’Clock – Part Eighty Two
If Lantic Gin has the feel of a gin made by an enthusiast,
then today’s gin, Monterey Helford Gin, has much loftier pretensions.
Such are the variations in approaches that the ginaissance has spawned. It
comes in a wonderfully ornate, tall, octagonal bottle, four short sides at the
corners and four longer faces, with a glass stopper. The label, a dark green
background with predominantly gold lettering, has a profusion of art deco style
geometric shapes. It tells me that it is “gin for the discerning”, I
would expect nothing less, and that its ABV is 43%.
I bought my bottle, number 62 from batch one, from the
Constantine Stores on a recent visit and it came in a splendid white
presentation box, resplendent with the art deco Monterey logo in gold. It is an
impressive object and stands out on my crowded gin display.
The name of the gin, distilled in Helford, near Falmouth, in
Cornwall ties in nicely with the art deco feel of the bottle. Monterey pines,
which stand tall and proud along the banks of the Helford river, overshadowing
the indigenous oaks, were introduced in the 1920s and 30s from California. They
found the area to their liking and have not looked back. The brains behind
Monterey gin wanted to create a gin that resonated with the days of speakeasy
bars, flappers and when cocktails were de rigueur, a gin that would be equally
at home as a component of an extravagant cocktail as the companion to a tonic.
There are eleven botanicals in the mix. Frustratingly, they
do not reveal what they are save that you will find Gentian Root, it is the
main ingredient in Angostura bitters so you get the idea, Mate, a form of tea
from Argentina, and Sea Buckthorn. The starting point is an organic grain
spirit into which the eleven botanicals are steeped in a copper still named
Shirley. As the still heats up, the infusion is allowed to evaporate and then
is cooled and condensed. Once the Heads and Tails of the batch are disposed of,
the Hearts are diluted down to its fighting weight using de-mineralised water.
What this process, known as “one shot” distillation, means
is that other than the water dilution, the spirit isn’t changed – what goes in
is what comes out and all the oils and flavours resident in the botanicals are
retained – but it is also a time-consuming process and means that the number of
bottles obtained from any one batch is on the lower end of the production
spectrum.
The key question, though, is; is it all fur coat and no
knickers? Does it live up to its image and hype?
I don’t know why but I was expecting a bit of a let down but
my endemic pessimism was misplaced. The aroma told me that this gin was going
to be juniper-led and that spice, peppers and some citrus elements were going
to be in the mix. To the taste it was a smooth, complex drink with all the
elements coming into play once the initial juniper hit had passed. The
aftertaste was long and slightly spicy.
It went well with Navas tonic, the lightness of the tonic
emphasising some of the subtler flavours in the gin. Not only does Monterey gin
look good, it tastes good and you can’t ask for better than that.
Until the next time, cheers!
