#285 The Botanist Gin

Whisky takes a load of time to make.  OK, so the actual liquid doesn't take much time to make, but the fact that you have to put the liquid away for at least 3, and usually 10 years, means that you have a long term financial commitment to your product.  To combat this, a lot of distilleries are releasing the base spirit of whisky to make some cash quickly, and inevitably, it tastes ok at best!

So Bruichladdich, never one to not jump with both feet straight into an idea, have created a gin called The Botanist, a limited edition gin (15,000 bottles).  It makes sense really, as the base spirit is the same, you just chuck a load of botanicals in it and ta-daa, you have a gin.  It contains 31 different botanicals, 22 of which, including Juniper, are native to Islay.

It is a clean, creamy aroma with light prickles of pepper on the nose.  A sweet juniper aroma too with hints of sea salt.  The palate is bone dry, lots of bitter elements, lots of pepper and yet a great creamy texture.  Very clean on the finish with spice, lemon zest and a pear element.  Really tasty.

With tonic (Fever Tree!) it becomes a stunning, slightly sweet gin and tonic.  The tonic brings out all the sweeter elements of the gin, mutes the pepper a bit but reveals a lovely apple and herbal element. 

This is a good gin - ok, at £25 it isn't cheap, but it is a much better and interesting gin than the likes of Tanqueray Ten and the omnipresent "we-need-a-point-of-difference-on-our-bars-gantry-so-we-will-have-the-same-point-of-difference-gin-as-every-other-bar-in-town-and-stock-Hendricks".  There are many other great gins on the market so you don't need to hunt this down, but if you see it, try it.  It is a good gin.