The renaissance of gin

The renaissance of gin

Gin is popular again - straight as well as in cocktails. This worldwide boom has been triggered by numerous new brands of gin that enchant the palate with unusual blends of herbs.

Of all the numerous new brands of gin that have emerged over the past few years, the G’Vine Floraison, made from French cognac, is most likely the furthest removed from the original gin, which was distilled in the 17th century as genever in the Netherlands distilled from grain and juniper berries. To produce G’Vine Floraison, wine is first distilled four times and then distilled once more together with distilled floraison, juniper berries, ginger, liquorice, cardamom, Chinese cinnamon, coriander, limes, nutmeg and Java pepper. The result is a very smooth gin with distinct floral and soft spicy notes.

Almost all new gins contain numerous (often secret) spices, herbs, citrus fruit, nuts and blossom. Gabriel Boudier in the French city of Dijon spices his distillate with juniper berries, lemon and orange zest, coriander, angelica, violet root as well as fennel, and colours it with saffron - calling it Saffron Gin. The American Guy Rehorst uses sweet basil and Wisconsin ginseng for his Premium Milwaukee Gin, and the Austrian Blue Gin even contains 27 spices from 11 countries. The creativity of the distillers obviously knows no boundaries when it come to the selection of spices.

In addition to the many spices, storage in barrels is another characteristic of the new gins: Tad Seestedt of Ransom Wines & Spirits in Sheridan, Oregon stores his Old Tom Gin in oak barrels which were previously used for maturing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines. His colleague, Paul Hletko in Evanston, Illinois uses old bourbon whisky barrels made from American oak for his FEW barrel-aged gin, as do Dave Rigo and Greg Lehman (a former volleyball professional from Switzerland) from the Watershed Distillery in Columbus, Ohio for their Bourbon Barrel Gin. Other distilleries use sherry or madeira barrels. The wood gives the gin additional aroma and extra body.

Links:
G’Vine Floraison: www.g-vine.com
Saffron Gin: www.boudier.com
Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Gin: www.greatlakesdistillery.com
Blue Gin: www.bluegin.cc
Old Tom Gin: www.ransomspirits.com
FEW Barrel-aged Gin: https://fewspirits.com
Bourbon Barrel Gin: www.watersheddistillery.com