gin

Bols Genever Amsterdam Gin

Filed under: Spirits

Lucas Bols, the world's oldest distilled spirits brand originally established in 1575 in Amsterdam, has relaunched its Dutch Genever gin, a white spirit created almost two centuries ago. The word "gin" has disappeared from the new bottle (above) in favor of "grain neutral spirits", as the old world Genever bears little resemblance to the dry London gins we're familiar with these days. Bols Genever is made by blending a unique distillate called maltwine with a carefully selected secret blend of botanicals; the result is a superior quality spirit with a unique smooth character that can be made into a variety of delicious cocktails. Genever has in fact been an essential cocktail ingredient for nearly two centuries; Jerry Thomas, author of the world's first cocktail book The Bartender's Guide cited it as one of only four essential cocktail spirits back in 1862.

Gallery: Bols Genever Gin

Tags: Amsterdam, Bols, Bols Genever, BolsGenever, Gin, Holland, Jerry Thomas, JerryThomas, Lucas Bols, LucasBols

TRU Organic Spirits Launches Artisanal Gin

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Los Angeles-based TRU Organic Spirits has launched a new small batch, artisanal gin using 14 whole botanicals. The botanicals in TRU2 Gin (right) are macerated in layers forming an organic wheat base spirit.

The gin is not re-distilled after the maceration process in order to preserve its rich, balanced flavor profile, a technique that "harks back to the earliest curative gins made by 16th century physicians throughout Europe," the company notes.

We're used to gins these days being crystal clear, but the macerated ingredients including juniper berries, fresh lavender and chamomile impart a distinctive amber hue to this flavorful spirit.

TRU, which is known for its artisanal vodkas (our favorite is the lemon infused version), uses state-of-the art column stills that produce the purest spirits possible in only one pass in order to conserve energy. The company also plants a tree for every bottle sold.

Gallery: TRU Organic Spirits

Tags: Gin, Organic vodka, OrganicVodka, TRU Organic Spirits, TRU vodka, TruOrganicSpirits, TruVodka, Vodka

The Classicist: A Toast to F. Scott Fitzgerald

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, The Classicist

Drinking, if done well and stylishly, can lead to literary inspiration. Or at least not impede it too much. Take that great chronicler of wealth and society F. Scott Fitzgerald, for instance, whose 112th birthday is about to be celebrated; some of his best work was clearly done under the influence. Just look at Tender Is the Night (1934). Of course the intemperate author, left entirely to his own devices, might have been less poetical in his consumption of alcohol and thereby rendered a less perfect work of art. But his great friends, patrons and mentors Gerald and Sara Murphy, upon whom Tender Is the Night is based, showed him how to do the thing properly.

The beautiful, rich and clever Murphys, central figures of expatriate social and cultural life of the Jazz Age in France, held court at their villa on the French Riviera in Antibes - this was long before the Russian billionaires arrived, before there even was such a thing in fact - and dispensed cocktails at the dazzling dinner parties immortalized in the book. Gerald tried to limit his guests' consumption of same in order to prevent the gatherings from devolving into total inebriation, though Fitzgerald usually managed to down more than his fair share. This often led to breakages, shouting matches and even suicide attempts, proving Murphy right.

The Fitzgeralds of course, were legendary boozers. When they later lived in shabby gentility in Great Neck, Long Island, they would drive back and forth to Manhattan for binges in a second-hand Rolls-Royce. Their houseboy would frequently find them passed out on the lawn in the morning, the car more or less in the driveway. For Murphy, however, drink-making was a stylish ritual imparted by his father, owner of the Mark Cross luxury goods company.

Tags: Antibes, Cary Grant, CaryGrant, Cocktails, f. scott fitzgerald, F.ScottFitzgerald, France, French Riviera, FrenchRiviera, Gerald and Sara Murphy, GeraldAndSaraMurphy, Gin, Jazz Age, JazzAge, Mark Cross, MarkCross, Rolls-Royce, Summer drinks, SummerDrinks, Tender is the Night, TenderIsTheNight, The Philadelphia Story, ThePhiladelphiaStory, Whitney Museum, WhitneyMuseum

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Whitley Neill Gin

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

More and more spirits also doing charitable work. England's Whitley Neill Gin has created "The Whitley Neill Top of the Tree Challenge" cocktail competition to raise money for UK-based charity, Tree Aid, which supports African communities. UK bartenders will be creating cocktails involving the gin and at least one other ingredient which has derived from a tree. The cocktails will be available until August 1 and the bars will donate money from each cocktail sold to the Whitley Neill Planting Project in Africa.

Whitley Neill Gin already donates five per cent of the proceeds of each bottle sold to Tree Aid. Tree Aid focuses on the poorest sub-Sahel villages where 90 per cent of the population depends on trees including the Baobab, which is a signature botanical in Whitley Neill. The gin was launched in 2005 and is produced in small batches in an antique copper pot still and contains two African botanicals, baobab fruit and Cape gooseberries. It sells for around $30.

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Tags: alcohol, gin, whitley neill, WhitleyNeill

New Amsterdam Straight Gin

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

The general trend in gin these days is to infuse it with ever more exotic botanicals and other unusual ingredients to make as distinctive a spirit as possible. However, New Amsterdam, a new gin from the E.&J. Gallo Winery in California (their first non-grape product), is more about subtlety.

The quintessential gin component juniper is suppressed in this "straight" concoction, which with its citrusy notes produces a lighter, cleaner, less "ginny" gin than you're no doubt used to. The name refers to the 17th-century Dutch settlement that became New York City and the modernistic bottle features a slice of the Manhattan skyline.

See the gallery for some neat New Amsterdam cocktail recipes formulated to highlight this fresh, summery spirit.

Gallery: New Amsterdam Gin

Tags: Gallo, Gin, New Amsterdam Gin, New York City, NewAmsterdamGin, NewYorkCity, Summer cocktails, SummerCocktails

Q Tonic

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

There has been a surge of new gins on the market but what about the other half of the summer essential G&T? Now there is a new premium tonic water, Q Tonic. Q Tonic has no high fructose corn syrup and has 60% fewer calories than regular tonic water. The brand uses hand-picked quinine from the Peruvian Andes and is sweetened with organic agave. The tonic water has been launched in selected restaurants and retail outlets around the country and online. It generally costs around $10 for a pack of four bottles.

[via Notes on a Party]

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Tags: alcohol, cocktails, gin, liquor, mixers, tonic water, TonicWater

No. 209 Gin

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

With the passing of Memorial Day, gin and tonic season officially begins, a different option from the usual suspects is No. 209 gin which is made by Distillery 209 in San Francisco. Instead of relying on juniper, this gin has notes of citrus and cardamom. No. 209 also includes bergamot, using the whole peel for a fresh citrusy taste. Quoted in the Globe and Mail, Arne Hillesland, technical director and master distiller at Distillery 209 says: "It's not a big, giant Christmas tree of a gin." This begs the question, when does gin stop being gin and start being just another flavored spirit? The word gin is a derivation of a word referring to juniper. N0. 209 does contain juniper, it just brings up the levels of the other flavors traditionally used in gin. It can be found for around $30. The No. 209 website includes a variety of cocktails that are not traditional options for gin including a basil gimlet, several mojitos and a recipe for making a huge batch (30 cocktails) of the 209 Sno Kone which includes the gin, frozen orange juice concentrate, frozen lemonade concentrate and sugar frozen into a slushy concoction.

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Tags: alcohol, cocktails, gin, no 209 gin

Stirrings of Spring

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Spirits

When the weather finally warms up in these parts all we want to do is sit out in the garden with the sun, the birds, a good book and a tall cool drink. But this spring we're going on a quest for better cocktails - not crazy new recipes or exotic infusions, just better quality quaffing. We tend to consume a lot of tonic water for one thing, mixed with gin, of course (but also vodka and rum; if you've never had a Mt. Gay and tonic with lime, you don't know what you're missing). The well-known tonics that are readily available however not only have a medicinal, metallic taste, but we hate to abuse good gin by insinuating it into the same glass. Ditto the other muck cluttering up the drinks section in our local supermarket.

So this season we're banishing the big-name brands and stocking up on all-natural ingredients from Stirrings, the Massachusetts-based company dedicated to improving America's drinking habits. They cost a little more, but like the best things fitting that description, they're well worth it, and made entirely without the aid of artificial colors and flavors, corn syrup, and preservatives. Stirrings' tonic is made with triple-filtered water, Cinchona bark extract (a source of quinine), and a little cane sugar; infused with "champagne-like" carbonation, it's crisper, cleaner and lighter than the stuff we've been poisoning ourselves with these long years.

We're also going to lay in some of their all-natural club soda, made with triple-filtered water and a pinch of hand-gathered fleur de sel from France, and their other excellent sodas. And if we get really adventurous, we might try their mixers, garnishes, essences and syrups, including authentic grenadine made with real pomegranate. We'd tell you more, but we've suddenly been struck with a powerful thirst.

Gallery: Stirrings Cocktail Classics

Tags: club soda, ClubSoda, cocktails, gin, mixers, Mt. Gay, Mt.Gay, rum, Stirrings, tonic water, TonicWater

Gallo Takes a Spin at Gin

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Gallo is a name that typically resonates with the wine industry but they are branching out to embrace a new alcoholic beverage -- gin. Their new venture, New Amsterdam Straight Gin, is said to be smooth enough to sip on its own but certainly perfect for a martini or G&T. Its manufacturing facility is in Modesto where the rest of E. & J. Gallo's complex is located. Aiming for the 25-49 year old market with a premium brand that will cost between $13-$14 per bottle, Gallo's gin isn't the first time a wine company has tackled the liquor market. All gins are flavored with juniper berries but I think the twist of citrus flavor added to New Amsterdam Straight Gin sounds delicious!

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Tags: alcohol, gallo, gin, spirits

Rehorst Vodka and Gin

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Just a couple of weeks ago I mentioned a new vodka coming out of Wisconsin. It turns out that Wisconsin is quite the hotbed of distilling lately, forget beer, it's all about the vodka now. The Great Lakes Distillery is a small-batch distillery located in Milwaukee Wisconsin. They hand-craft distilled spirits in limited quantities and currently make Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Vodka and Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Gin. The Rehorst vodka, is made from Wisconsin red wheat, along with a special yeast, and filtered Lake Michigan water. The Rehorst gin is made with traditional gin botanicals plus two never found in gin before, sweet basil and Wisconsin ginseng. Both spirits sell for $30.

[via Wine Enthusiast]

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Tags: gin, rehorst, spirits, vodka, wisconsin

Bombay Sapphire's "Revelation"

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Charity

Described as a "collaboration between the drinks, crystal, art and design worlds," Bombay Sapphire Revelation is a collection of 5 absolutely gorgeous bottles. Bombay Sapphire is the drink (of course), Baccarat is the crystal, Garrard is the art/jeweller, and Karim Rashid is the bottle designer. The Revelation line consists of 5 bottles shaped like enormous jewels, all the same with the exception of their caps -- each uniquely decorated with diamonds and sapphires.

The entire collection is worth $1 million, but each bottle (priced at $200,000) will be displayed separately at one of 5 airports around the world (New York, London, Dubai, Sydney, and Singapore) starting around the end of March with proceeds to benefit The Smile Train charity. And along with the beautiful Revelation bottle the new owners will also receive a years supply of Bombay Sapphire gin.

Gallery: Bombay Sapphire Revelation

Via My Selection

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Tags: baccarat, bombay sapphire, BombaySapphire, diamonds, garrard, gin, karim rashid, KarimRashid, Revelation, sapphire, sapphires

Right Gin

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Another new liquor launch and it's finally not a vodka! Right Gin is a new gin that first launched for 100 days in las Vegas. The gin is made from ingredients sourced around the world: water from Lake Bolmen in Sweden, juniper from Austria, coriander leaf from India, cardamom from Russia, lemon and vergamont from Sicily, lime and bitter orange from the West Indies and black pepper from Borneo all in a spirit distilled five times from corn. It is designed to appeal to those who have previously wrinkled their nose up at the thought of gin as a rather astringent potable best left to English gentlemen or to be doused in tonic water and served at Memorial Day cookouts. The gin is now available in New York, Boston and Chicago and sells for $35.

[via Martini Groove]

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Tags: alcohol, gin, liquor, right gin, spirits

G'Vine Gin

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

The Cognac region in France has become the latest hot place to make vodka but it is also the home to a new gin. G'Vine is a new gin made by Eurowinegate which is based in the region. It is the first white spirit to be distilled from grape vine flowers. According to a Wine Spectator article, G'Vine is derived from the Ugni Blanc grape flower and distilled in small batches with gin's traditional botanicals such as juniper, licorice, cassia and coriander. The gin is then blended with the flowers of the Ugni Blanc leaves and distilled again. The resulting drink is said to have a more floral noise than traditional gin and to be more soft and delicate. G'Vine is currently only available in stores in the New York and New Jersey area but you can find it online for under $30.

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Tags: alcohol, g'vine, gin, spirits

Gin Rummy Drink Set

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Spirits

If asked to name popular card games, gin rummy would probably not make the top five. That said, the game does carry a touch of old fashioned sophistication that works well with Kate Spade's Gin Rummy Drink Set. She has a whiskey decanter ($125), a set of highballs ($100 for 4) and a set of cordial glasses ($50 for 4), all made of full lead crystal that has been etched with the shapes of card suits. The decanter, which is topped with a rectangular crystal stopper, stands 11" high and holds 32-oz.

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Tags: decanter, decanters, gin, gin rummy, kate spade, KateSpade, set, whiskey

Penderyn Expands Into Vodka and Gin

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Penderyn Distillery, a company we have profiled for its line of Welsh whisky, is now extending their range into vodka and gin. Brecon Five vodka and Brecon Special Reserve gin are both are distilled with waters drawn from the Penderyn Distillery in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, UK. The Brecon Five vodka is five column distilled for purity and smoothness and made with wheat grain and comes in a bottle meant to resemble a block of ice. The Brecon Special Reserve gin is infused with 10 specially selected botanicals, married with Penderyn barley spirit. Both sell for around $30.

[via Brand Republic]

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Tags: alcohol, brecon, gin, liquor, penderyn, spirits, vodka

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