Gin Review: Batch Gin, Limited Edition Whinberry Gin

I know that on spotting the title of this review, a friend of mine is going to see the word whinberry and curse. You see whinberries (also known as bilberries) are similar to blueberries,but generally grow wild and are smaller, fiddlier and despite her yearning to turn them into whinberry tarts, she loses all patience while foraging and curses them until they go out of season. Then the whole cycle starts again, where she wonders why she doesn’t make whinberry tarts. 

Sorry Clare. 

This, however, is about my favourite of things, gin. And in particular Batch Gin.

For the uninitiated, Batch Gin is made in Burnley and is the product of a lot (and I mean a lot) of research by Phil and his team, and by Head Distiller Emma. Yes ladies, another lady distiller in our midst. Using their brand new still, Adrian (this is an equal opportunities distillery on all fronts) their gin has been a favourite of mine for some time. Using Frankincense and myrhh, alongside more traditional ingredients such as orange peel, nutmeg, juniper, cinnamon, angelica, lemongrass, cardamom, cloves, allspice and coriander, what they create is a distinctively spicy gin. Whilst maintaining a good juniper backbone, the florals and spice notes play around the palate, the former coming out more as soon as you add a little tonic to open it up. It manages to be a pretty gin, whilst still maintaining a strong core. 

Over Christmas, Batch sent me their new gin to play with – taking their original distinctive gin, they’ve let it sit with those little dark berries, so that the fruit infuses into the gin, resulting in a deep red fruity gin.

 

 

 

On the nose, as you’d expect you get berries, sweetness, that distinctive spice that is only Batch and beneath it a good waft of juniper. Then on the mouth, fruit, round, soft, slightly jammy, almost syrupy texture. Blueberries (as you’d expect) juniper backbone, spicy notes, the fruit tones down the florals that you’d expect from Batch, but the dryness and spicy finish is still there. 

 

 

Add in tonic, and it softens the spice, but personally, stick with ginger beer which emphasises the spice of the gin, or go for something even more boozy – grab a bottle of fizz, and simply add a splash of the Batch to your flute. The fruit softens the dryness of the fizz, the fizz opens out the spice of the gin. 

 

Sweet, but not overly so, if you like a fruit gin – particularly something like sloe or damson, this might just be your cup of tea – or should that be, gin and tonic?

 

 

With thanks to Batch for letting me have this little pretty early!