Berry-tastic Gin

Berry's are an essential and common botanical in gin, juniper berries must always be present, cubeb berries sometimes join them to add a peppery spice, berries which are rarely used in gin are those we consume on a regular basis, blackberries and blueberries are infant a rather unusual botanical to find in gin.

The gin I am talking about is Brockmans Gin, one of those new western dry styles we hear so much about these days. and in true form of this new style of gin Brockmans far removed from the classic juniper heavy styles often associated with the category.

The label claims the liquid inside carries with it subtle aromas of berry, personally the first smell was like being kicked in the face by Chuck Norris with a bramble bush attached to his foot, there is an ever so slight whiff of juniper, think juniper under the influence of horse tranquillisers and you would be on the right track.    

On the palate Brockmans is pretty smooth, as promised, there is a degree of sweetness with the berry notes once again proving dominant, I find an almost peppery spice which I often associate with coriander, juniper makes the occasional brief appearance but certainly does not hang around for too long.

The chaps at Brockmans claim this is a new gin experience, a claim which is certainly substantiated by the unique flavour profile, although it does raise  the question once again niggles at the back of my mind, is juniper the dominant flavour, the necessary requirement for a gin to be a gin?

A rather enjoyable gin, smooth and sweet, it definitely stands out from the crowd, I also find it refreshing for a gin to be intended to be drunk straight rather than made to mix. This would be a perfect gin for those uninitiated in the ways of juniper heavy spirits.

We hope you enjoy

Umpleby & Brown

Sipping on Gin and Juice (Laid Back)

Seagram's Extra Dry Gin Photographed by Sofia Miranda

Seagrams is a staple gin stateside, the equivalent of Gordon's here in Blighty, I came across a bottle recently and thought i'd give it a go, admittedly at £15 I wasn't expecting much but wanted to see first hand what all the hullabaloo was about.

The first thing that drew my attention to Seagrams Extra Dry was the colour, the majority of gin's are clear where as Seagrams has a light hay coloured hue to it, could it be this mass produced gin is barrel aged?

It turns out Seagrams Extra Dry is in fact rested in American white oak barrels for a few weeks after distillation to mellow the spirit. A lovely touch and one which imparts slight vanilla notes in to the gin without any of the tannins often imparted from longer periods of ageing in oak. Obviously the short time the spirit spends in oak isn't the only flavour contributing to the gin, a classic botanical mix including juniper, coriander, angelica root and orange peel are steeped in the neutral grain spirit prior to distillation.

On the nose I was immediently met with creamy vanilla cut with a spicy peppery, orange note and our oh so ever welcome friend juniper mingling about the place. On the palate the vanilla is subtle but still present, the spice of the coriander is rather dominant and combines perfectly with the pine notes of the juniper the slight citrus, fruitiness of the orange gives the gin a nice fresh lift.

I found Seagrams Extra Dry a rather smooth and extremely interesting gin, no unusual botanicals have been used but the combination of classic botanicals and oak maturation creates a rather unique flavour profile. I personally would not describe this as extra dry but perhaps the vanilla notes from the oak simply give an impression of sweetness.

Seagrams also produce a barrel proof gin, something which I am rather looking forward to imbibing, watch this space...

In addition to Seagrams cracking gin's they seem to produce a pre mixed range of drinks, Seagrams Gin & Juice, flavours include Red Fury and Lemon-Berry Blaze. At this point I must say I am a little adverse to pre bottled drinks, supermarkets in the UK are flooded with pre mixed brandy Alexanders, Cosmopolitans and the sort, i just feel it takes the skill out of preparing exquisite drinks not to mention moving away from fresh ingredients to a whole load of E number.

It must be the snob in me but I feel it's a shame to see a producer who distills such an exceptional product lower the tone by entering the pre mixed cocktail market, especially when the inspiration for name has come from an early 90's rap song. I do find this marketing ploy rather clever considering Cognac producers have paid millions to get their brand mentioned in rap songs, but not gin, gin producers are smart enough to see an opportunity and run with it, after all why pay millions for the cool kids to rap about your products if steal the name of their song. At the end of the day I guess bills must be paid and if high volume, mixes for the masses allow Seagrams the finance and backing to create their stunning Extra Dry Gin and the barrel strength expressions I should probably wind my neck in a little. Therefore in the interest of fairness may I propose a suggested serve for Seagrams Gin & Juice;

Gin & Juice

Any flavour of Seagrams Gin & Juice

Brown Paper Bag x 1

Low Rider with hydraulic suspension 

Warning: it may be frowned upon if you roll down the street smoking endo and sipping on one of these, but it will certainly make you ghetto fabulous.

We Hope You Enjoy

Umpleby & Brown