Hidden Curiosities Gin was created by gin lover Jenny Meguro. Jenny loves gin. In fact, she loves it so much that she dedicated herself to trying 100 different samples over the course of a year for ‘research’, a line I use regularly myself. Her aim was to develop a gin with “a unique recipe with a very distinct character.” 20 botanicals later, and with the help of a distillery located in the Surrey hills, she was able to find what she was looking for.
It seems Hidden Curiosities is a name with purpose, as the gin has been designed to vary in flavour, with subtle botanicals that come forward with tonic. The flavour elements lean into citrus and spicy, with 5 different peppercorns and green cardamom. A short zesty burst of lime and more unusual citrus influences of pink grapefruit, bergamont and Japanese yuzu fades into a long, drawn out sweet spice. It gives a wonderful warming sensation when sipped neat. Described as a “self assured gin”, it really does hold its weight and it’s balanced and complex. It served me well when I started this article. It’s cold at the moment and despite many layers, a few drops of this was the only thing that made me feel warm all day.
Add tonic and the gin twists into something longer, more in depth, more complicated. Add the recommended garnish of pink peppercorns and green caradmom and we’re in business! The warm spice swimming in a sea of cool G&T goodness, the two balance very well indeed. There’s been a definite increase in popularity of spicy gin in the last few years, with distillers get more creative all the time. As far as I’m concerned, this gin is a wonderful blend of the traditional along with the growing trend. For the record, the gin also lends itself very well to it’s citrus notes if using yuzu or pink grapefruit garnish.
The bottle is gorgeous and I love the look of the label with its bold metallic copper stamped on black and white. This with the square corked bottle gives a polite nod to days gone by, Victorian times with a fascination with curios and mysterious things. Drinking this evokes the sensation of hiding out in a secret side alley bar, full of taxidermy, with a lone magician working the bar for gin money. “Step right up, have I got a treat for you!”
Hidden Curiosities is available through many local stockists, their site and Master of Malt. A full list is available, here.