The one with the dog…
I can still remember my first visit to Batch Distillery – or should I say the old distillery. I was standing on a road in Burnley, looking at a row of non-descript terraced houses. The kind you’d find almost anywhere in Lancashire, or Yorkshire for that matter.
I was meeting everyone and heading to a meeting off site, but… I wasn’t sure which terraced house was the distillery, because they all just looked like terraced houses. Though they’ve since expanded to an industrial unit, like most distilleries, they began at home – in this case way downstairs in the cellar.
This was not only my first introduction to their still, and the team (away from social media) but it was also my first introduction to Lo Pan – the pup for whom the latest Batch Innovation is named.
Lo Pan is a Shih Tzu – named for the character in Big Trouble in Little China (dammit I haven’t seen that in ages, and it’s a real family favourite). When the stills were at temperature, Lo Pan would handily let everyone know by scratching at the floorboards.
Having met the pup himself, I can confirm he is indeed well named, though obviously with a face that implies butter wouldn’t melt – and as you’d expect, it’s this face that graces the bottle of the London Dry style gin Batch have created for June.
So that’s the namesake, and the distillery. Let’s try it.
Neat, this is not a shy quiet gin! Citrus, juniper and a hint of alcoholic heat on the nose. On the palate there’s a soft sweet mouthfeel, a big hit of juniper, citrus and then a bite of spice at the tip of your tongue. it’s drinkable neat, but you don’t get the finer notes of the botanicals.
Where this gin really shiones is in a G&T.
The nose has citrus, a hint of sherbet an a big kick of juniper. On the palate, the spices that dominate in the signature gin take a bit of a back seat – they just tickle the tip of the tongue, with a cinnamon-like spice, and a little herbal note. The back of the mouth gets that big hit of juniper and citrus, the juniper especially lingering afterwards.
As a G&T it’s surprisingly drinkable despite being a bit of a beast – and definitely one of those ‘had a rough day need a proper gin and tonic’ kind of gins.
I’m almost looking forward to having a crappy day in the office. Almost.
