A Touch of Bombay Spice

Bombay Dry and Sapphire Photographed by Sofia Miranda

Bombay Sapphire is a globally recognised spirit, distinctive packaging, a unique style of distillation, and great marketing have all made sure of this. As with every popular brand it has not gone without criticism, there are those who deny it's place in the gin world claiming it's light flavour profile make it more akin to a vodka than what was traditionally known as a gin. Although this could be viewed as a negative those who make this clim often fail to consider the rest of the Bombay range, yes there are more than one, two in fact, Bombay Dry is relatively unheard of  in Blighty often overshadowed by the more modern and glitzy Bombay Sapphire. Bombay Dry is a more traditional style of gin, big, bold and heavy in juniper, a gin which would satisfy the juniper addiction of purists. Bombay Sapphire on the other hand has a lighter flavour profile which appeals to a wider audience, those new to the spirit or those who usually drink vodka may well consume Sapphire as a stepping stone in to the category, gin for the masses, how can this be a bad thing?

Both Bombay Dry and Sapphire employ the same distillation method, vapour infusion. The traditional method of producing gin is to steep the botanicals in the neutral spirit prior to distillation to begin extracting the essence of the botanicals, it has been argued that by using this method one boils or stews the botanicals. The vapour method of infusion involves distilling the nuetral spirit on it's own allowing the vapours to pass through the botanicals which are held in a basket in the neck of the still, as the vaporised alcohol passes through the botanicals it extracts their essence. The vapour method of producing gin creates a more subtle and lighter flavour where as steeping especially for an extended period of time like Beefeater who steep for 24 hours before distillation will obviously extract more flavour. Neither method of distillation is necessarily better, they just create a different style of gin.

Bombay Dry is distilled with eight different botanicals; Juniper, Coriander Seeds, Lemon Peel,Angelica Root, Cassia Bark, Orris Root, Liquorice and Almonds and bottled at 43% abv. On the nose Bombay Dry is a rather powerful gin, not so Juniper punchy as Junipero but definitely dominant in the Juniper department, lemony citrus notes follow the juniper but there is an unfortunate alcohol burn which restricts further analysis of aroma.  On the palate the gin is a lot smoother than the burn on the nose would allow you to believe, it is a fresh citrusy gin with juniper not as dominant as it is on the nose but present all the same. Bombay Dry also possesses a rather pleasant earthy, spiciness which I can only imagine comes from the combination of coriander, angelica and iris root, this spicy finish which lingers on the tongue. Over all a very pleasant gin, nothing too surprising or unique just a bold, complex, well made product, neither flavour dominates, a great gin for mixing, especially in longer drinks where lighter products could get lost.


Bombay Sapphire makes use of all eight botanicals used in Bombay Dry but also adds Cubeb Berries and Grains of Paradise in to the mix and is bottled at 40%. The additional botanicals are not the only difference between the two gins, I suspects the proportion of the botanicals differs slightly considering how much lighter Sapphire is than it's big brother. On the nose I am immediately met with a fruity citrus if not slightly acidic zing, behind this the familiar aroma of juniper lingers. On the palate the gin is very light on flavour, the citrus which was ever so dominant on the nose returns but doesn't stay for long, the same can be said for the juniper, the spice which appears in Bombay Dry is back again but much less pronounced, Sapphire has a distinctively shorter taste. 


Sapphire generally a much lighter gin than Bombay Dry, it is this lighter style which may be better suited vodka drinkers or those who have not yet acclimatised to juniper heavy gins, it would be a good gin for a martini if you are trying to wean a guest off vodka, I wouldn't entertain the idea of mixing it in a gin and tonic or lengthening it in any way as it will find itself a little lost.


I do believe both styles of Bombay have a place on the market but feel as though consumers are unsure of where and why this is. Both gin's are excellent products both fulfilling a demand, one for vetran gin drinkers and another for newbies. I would still maintain Bombay Sapphire owes as much of it's success to it's snazzy packaging and marketing as it does to the gin itself. This is by no means a reflection of the quality of the gin but more from my personal experience of people ordering a gin and tonic and requesting either Bombay Sapphire or Gordons as their gin of choice, two gin's which couldn't be further removed from each other but coincidently are two of the biggest marketed gins in the category. I would love to see Bombay Dry more widely available in England and less over shadowed by it's younger sibling.


Hope You Enjoy


Umpleby & Brown      

  

Knock, Knock, Knocking on Death's Door...

Deaths Door Gin as pictured by Sofia Miranda

Death's Door is an American gin distilled in Madison, Wisconsin, named after a treacherous passage between Door County and Washington Island. It is made from organic, wheat, barley and botanicals from Washington Island with a view to restoring the farming in the area whilst protecting the local environment.


The base for the spirit is locally grown, organic hard red winter wheat and malted barley. This 60:40 blend of wheat to malted barley makes an exceptionally smooth base spirit with a subtle malty character, not dissimilar to that of a jonge genever. This base is then infused with three simple botanicals, Juniper, Coriander and Fennel, a surprisingly small number considering gins like Citadelle utilise nineteen botanicals, but i must say the combination of these three botanicals with the exceptional base spirit create an intense yet well rounded product.


The nose is very heavy on the juniper with some malty character shining through followed by spicy notes of the coriander. On the palate it's as if all three botanicals get in line to make their appearance, first that lovely juniper hit followed by a peppery spice from the coriander which lingers as a sweet anise flavour from the fennel comes through at the end. Considering this gin is bottled at 47% abv it is remarkably smooth, a perfect gin made in a bold, classic style, I could imagine Churchill imbibing this gin in a dry martini with just a nod to France to satisfy his need for vermouth. Despite the rather high price tag I would certainly recommend this product, a must have in any gin cabinet.


We Hope You Enjoy


Umpleby & Brown  

Bulldog Gin

Bulldog Gin photographed by Sofia Miranda

Bulldog is a relatively new gin on the market, launched in 2007, distilled by G&J Greenall. It prides itself on it's British heritage despite being produced for an American company, the gin plays host to a number of exotic botanicals areas previously colonised by the British. These exotic botanicals include Lotus Leaves and Dragon Eye from China, Lavander and Poppy, originating in India along with the more traditional botanical mix of Juniper, Lemon Peel, Almond, Angelica, Cassia bark, Coriander, Liquorice and Orris root.

By definition Bulldog is a London Dry gin, it is however not as juniper heavy as the more traditional gins of the style, with a larger focus on the floral supporting cast of botanicals.  On the nose the juniper just about dominates followed closely by fresh lemon citrus and a perfumed lavender aroma. On the palate the juniper immediately shy's away from it's dominate position on the nose being upstaged by the combination of more floral botanicals which dominate the spirit, the lychee notes of the dragon eye and the lavender are most notable with a degree of sweetness being offered from the poppy.

Bulldog see themselves as a mixing gin and the unique flavours certainly lend themselves to a wide variety of mixed drinks. I would however advise caution when mixing with such light gins as it is easy to loose the flavours of a light gin, tailor your recipes to each individual gin rather than assuming a recipe using Beefeater or Tanqueray will be fine to substitute for Bulldog without adjusting other ingredients.

We Hope You Enjoy

Umpleby & Brown 

       

Warning, Grapefruit and Coconut!

Hoxton Gin photographed by Sofia Miranda

An unusual gin has emerged on the market, an interesting yet challenging gin, providing something you really wouldn't expect from the category, some of you may have guessed this from the title of this post, I am referring to Hoxton Gin

A recent trend in the gin market has been to use unusual yet subtle botanicals alongside those more traditional herbs and spices, allowing other botanicals to share centre stage with Juniper, resulting in some interesting floral gins such as Aviation. These light, floral gin's certainly make one stop and think whether they belong in the category at all, or whether they would be more at home alongside Belvedere's latest flavours. Essentially these New Western Dry Gin's, as they seem to have been dubbed are just a new breed of gin, inspired by the lighter flavours of those London Dry Gins such as Bombay Sapphire which have pushed the boundaries of the rules dictating juniper must be the dominant flavour.

Hoxton Gin most certainly falls outside the London Dry style but does not quite follow suit of these light floral Western Dry styles either. It chooses some interesting botanicals such as tarragon and iris, botanicals which are delicately painted on the neutral spirit canvas before adding grapefruit and the more surprising coconut with what seems to be an industrial size roller, these botanicals dominate the spirit, in the same way juniper dominates Tanqueray, almost to the extent of masking what makes the product a gin.

I must say at this point I am rather fond of Hoxton Gin as a spirit but can see how purists would turn their noses up at it's gin status and struggle to identify it as gin. On the nose it has very sweet, fresh coconut notes which are followed by zesty grapefruit, if you focus your sense of smell you can just about find juniper at the back shyly popping it's hand up to be counted. The sweetness continues on the palate with the coconut dominating once more closely followed by the grapefruit, with our old friend juniper dragging his feet behind.

Overall an extremely interesting product massively pushing the boundaries of what we know as gin potentially opening up the category to the coconut rum loving masses, not one for purists, but a must try for those with an open mind. I look forward  to see what tropical, tiki style gin libations will emerge out of this change of pace for gin.  

We Hope You Enjoy,

Umpleby & Brown