Surprise! Brentingby gin released a new gin: the black edition.
It’s probably one of the finest perks of doing what I do, the opportunity to try gin that is special, rare, or in this case top secret and unreleased. It really is quite the thrill when a distiller sends you something with the specific request “Shhshhsh, not yet”. Laying my eyes on the design for the first time, it’s sleek, matt black bottle with trademark Brentingby font in metallic rose gold, is for want of a better word, somewhat of a luxury. The first two releases have gone down very well with gin fans and fellow bloggers who’s opinions I very much respect. So, when they got in touch to ask me if I’d like to try their new top secret launch, I jumped at the chance.
The third release is described as ‘stunning’ by Brentingby and I couldn’t wait to try it. Lime, ginger and meadow sweet are the key botanicals here. It’s a fantastically zingy combination. At 45%, it’s quite strong to try on it’s own, but this is something that will surely please the traditionalist and this is part of Brentingby’s style. “Combining contemporary with traditional”, their aim is to produce gin with just the smallest twist of elegant modernity. The black edition is certainly modern, with the bottle displaying the statement “True gins are like diamonds precious and rare”. The diamond idea seems to have a little mystery behind it so I’m curious to see what that turns into. But more importantly, how does it taste?
Neat on the nose, the warmth of the ginger mingles with the freshness of the lime and this combination is smoothed over by the meadow sweet which gives the sweetness from it’s name, a hint of almond tone and a delicate floral element. At it’s abv, it naturally carries a certain heaviness to which the lime gives a certain sharpness, an accuracy, if you like. The flavours work really very well together, neither one outshines the other, rather creating a very specific flavour. The sweetness comes through really nicely on the palate and with the lime it gives a desert type element to the flavour with the ginger burning brightly towards the finish, muddled with notes of liquorice. It’s very much in a dry style. True to traditional gins.
I spoke to Bruce about Brentingby and the new release.
Our mission is simple: to bring uncompromising London dry gin back to the forefront and adhere to the way it was always made, we are continually striving to influence how people enjoy drinking gin while continuing to craft our gins with passion for your enjoyment in our distillery.
With today’s focus on the issue of gin that’s not gin, this is a very noble cause and Brentingby do it well. And naturally, they’ve been building a loyal following in the process.
Tom Nichol and I discussed the market and to try cover a broad pallet range wanted to change it up a little, also design gins that can be garnished with most back bars garnishes and that would combine well together, black edition is to keep in line with our branding and relating to the diamond mystery coming.
I’m very intrigued by the diamond mystery! What could it be? Answers on a postcode, or maybe in the comments? I also asked him what the biggest challenges with producing the gin were.
The biggest challenges are getting the balance right and in effect doing everything perfectly or as close to as possible; temperature control, speed at which it comes off to ensure we get the right amount of botanicals through.
There are 10 botanicals in total, listed on Difford’s Guide as juniper, coriander, angelica, birch orange peel, meadow sweet, lime, ginger, liquorice root and hibiscus, which is starting to become quite a popular botanical in gin. It is a gin for a G&T I think, and will certainly lend itself well to certain cocktails, making a striking Gimlet. I tried it in a G&T with a standard tonic and a slice of lime to bring out that fresh element of the gin. It was really lovely and gave me a similar lime satisfaction of Tanquery Rangpur. The flavour profile of the three key botanicals is really well constructed. They all bubble through in a multilayered harmony. They work really well together and in that sense a describable drinker can really pick up on the craftmanship of this distillation. Brentingby’s Twitter announcement this morning points towards 31 Dover for purchases but I’ve had a little look through and it doesn’t seem to be up there just yet. So I say keep your eye out for it, after all, it really is very new.