We are firmly in the realm of the limited edition gin.
Which I must admit I have mixed feelings about. There are as it stands well over 700 gins in the world, and with my total sampled somewhere around 350, I already feel like I’m constantly playing catch up. But I aside from having a finite amount of time with which to sample them in, I also have, sadly, a finite amount of money to play with.
But, I understand the other side too. Experimenting, playing with new flavours and ideas you might not come back to. Creating one-offs that people can try, play with, and collect.
And this is one I’m hoping might become a regular from Poetic License.
Poetic License is based up north – no further than me – all the way up in Sunderland. What began as Sonnet 43 Brewery, grew into another idea, from brewing to distillation. After months of work, Poetic License saw the distillation of Graceful Vodka, Old Tom and a London Dry gin in their hybrid still.
Though I’ve sampled their London Dry, and their Old Tom (a bit of a favourite as it’s less sweet than many) and indeed their Picnic Gin (a summer limited edition which please can they bring back next year because it’s gorgeous and I missed it last year thank you), this post is based around their Autumn/Winter limited edition, Fireside Gin.
As you’d expect for a wintery themed gin, this is going to warm your cockles. Poetic License hand crush their botanicals, then macerate them for 24 hours before distillation, and though they don’t tell us exactly what is in Fireside Gin (aside from hinting at mulled winter fruit), it’s perhaps worth hazarding a guess.
On the nose you can tell just how different a gin this is. Hints of clove, saffron and vanilla tickle the senses, along with the juniper and citrus you’d expect. On the palate it’s like a mouthful of fruitcake – lots of spices, vanilla, clementines, cinnamon, cloves, all those mulled spices you’d expect. Add in a splash of tonic, and the dried fruits come out to play, raisins and cherries.
I took the opportunity to sample it with Ledger’s Cinnamon tonic too (one I’ll be reviewing properly in due course) and it was even better than the Fever Tree tonic I had. But the best flavour combination?
Gin and ginger.
I know I’m a little biased, as I do love a good ginger beer (and this one is excellent), but with this gin it becomes mulled clementines, doused in gin. It actually reminds me of a spiced rum I created a couple of years ago, it’s just so bloody good.
I sadly only had one bottle of the ginger beer, or I’d have finished off the bottle of gin with it. Which although it wasn’t a full bottle by any means, it’s probably a good thing, as nobody needs to be that drunk on a Sunday night.
I know I speak to lots of people who say they ‘don’t like gin’. And I often say you just haven’t met the right one yet.
This is a gin unlike any you’ll have probably sampled before and might just be that one.
