A global celebration of all things gin, World Gin Day on Saturday, June 11 is the time to try this wonderful juniper-laced spirit in all its glory!
Created in 2009 by Neil Houston as a bright idea to bring his friends together to drink gin in Birmingham, the day has spread around the world as a good excuse to imbibe a G&T.
Gin was born around 1689 and the earliest food pairing was in 1731 when gingerbread became a common accompaniment to your tipple and is still traditional in some parts of England.
By 1726, London had 1500 working stills and there were 6287 places where you could buy gin. Fast forward a couple of centuries to the 1920s when gin and tomato juice was all the rage as a hangover cure in New York city, years before the vodka-based Bloody Mary made its debut at the St Regis Hotel.
While British sailors received a daily ration of rum, it was the naval officers who got a daily shot of gin…lucky devils!
Here are two of our favourite gins to celebrate on Saturday:
Four Pillars Gin was established in 2013 by three bald mates who set out to elevate the craft of distilling gin in Australia. At a time when more than 90% of gin in Australia was imported, Cam, Stu and Matt saw an opportunity to take advantage of the rich and diverse botanicals this country has to offer and create world-class craft spirits right in the heart of the Yarra Valley at Healesville.
Flash forward to today and Four Pillars Gin has been named the world’s leading gin producer two years in a row (2019 and 2020) at the International Wine and Spirits Competition in London, officially making Australia’s favourite gin the world’s best.
Try the Bloody Shiraz Gin 2022 this Saturday to celebrate – deep, reddish-purple in colour, aromatically this gin shows fresh pine needles, citrus and spice, along with distinct peppery, dense raspberry notes. The palate is lovely and sweet with a long juniper and spice character on the finish.
While Four Pillars tries to keep the flavour profile consistent from year to year, with varying vintages grapes change in characteristic, which may change flavours slightly. As the 2022 bottles are released, a colour difference will also be noticeable; sitting in a bottle provides deeper colour and possibly more mature flavours – still delicious but possibly a bit different to tasting the gin fresh earlier in the year.
Warner's Distillery believes life's too short for mediocre gin; in 2012 they decided to save the world from it and overhauled the family farm in Northhampton in the UK to produce gin made with farm-grown ingredients, which bring you back to nature.
Not just any old honey gin, Warner’s Honeybee Gin is perfect served with Mediterranean or Indian tonic and a sprig of sage, or thyme. Warner’s bees keep 10 acres of botanicals healthy and provide a big dollop of honey for every bottle of honeybee gin; they have even got their own beekeeper to keep them buzzing and five acres of wildflower paradise.
Hand-harvested honey, lavender, hibiscus, rose and blue cornflower combine to make this wonderfully complex, yet delicate gin; expect a floral bouquet on the nose with sweet honey and subtle spice, while the palate is soft and creamy with lavender, rose and hints of grapefruit giving it a little zest.
The finish is smooth and enduring with the dry-sweet spice of juniper and elderflower, followed by lingering honey.
Try either drop this Saturday and let the good times be gin!
