Bruichladdich Masterclass

The Cocktail Shop here in Barcelona holds events and masterclasses throughout the year on various spirits and mixed drinks. I like keeping an eye out for special gin events, as it’s always a pleasure to meet brand ambassadors who offer extra insights into the products they represent – especially if they’re visiting a location nearby!

Fernando Sanabria talking about the Island of Islay (pronounced “eye-lah”).

Last week I was very lucky to sign up for the Bruichladdich masterclass, hosted by their brand ambassador, Fernando Sanabria. The event was more focussed on the brand’s whiskies, but it was still a brilliant opportunity to learn a little bit more about the distillery and their gin called The Botanist.

The Botanist’s bottle was redesigned to differentiate itself from a copycat gin in the market.

This is the first and only gin that comes from the Scottish island of Islay. The distillery was founded in 1881 and, to this day, no computers are used in their production. Everything is controlled and measured by skilled distillers with dipsticks and flotation devices, making the gin process a completely artisanal one!

They use 31 botanicals to make up this incredibly smooth gin (9 are part of the classic aromatics and the other 22 are harvested local botanicals) and it is distilled at a very low-
pressure level. There were different opinions about the flavour during tasting, but I found it quite citrusy and herbal. I’ll wager that if paired with the right tonic, it can make a smooth tasting G&T.

The first and only Islay Dry Gin.

One of the things that really surprised me, however, was the fact that I enjoyed the whisky tasting portion of the class. Maybe it was because I didn’t have breakfast that morning (yup, you can imagine how I left the place after that!), but people who know me will attest I’ve never been a big whisky fan. I didn’t care for it much when I was living in Scotland and still didn’t until the day of the event. My real interest lies in gin, especially when combined with a good tonic water, but I must confess this has all changed after this masterclass! I can honestly say I don’t think I ever tasted such fine Scottish whiskies as the ones produced by Bruichladdich! There was a rich array of flavours and smells to be sampled that I found utterly astonishing.

So yes, I’m beginning to appreciate, for the first time ever, a glass (or two, or three…) of Scottish whisky! And it makes me wonder if I’ve been missing out all these years. Is there actually more to whisky than meets the eye? I suspect so, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be saying goodbye to my beloved G&Ts. I’ve decided to get myself a bottle of The Botanist sometime in the near future and give it a whirl with some tonics to see which goes best. Once I have some thoughts on the gin, I’ll share them here. In the meantime, if you’ve not tried The Botanist yet, I highly recommend you do so. You won’t regret it!

Find out more about the products mentioned in this post below.

 

The Botanist
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The Essence Of The Mediterranean

The other day I was looking over my bottles of gin when I realised I hadn’t come up with a blog entry for a herbal one yet (which reminds me that I also have to write about the various gin categories). So I thought to myself, “what better brand to make an excellent addition to my blog than Gin Mare?” To those of you living in Spain, it is very likely you have heard of this gin already, as it is found in many bars and restaurants in the country.

Gin Mare was born in the late noughties (2000s) under the hands of Marc and Manuel Giró, 4th generation members of the Giró family, who signed a 50% joint venture with Global Premium Brands (GPB) to further distribute and market their innovative product: the first authentic super premium Mediterranean gin. It has gained international prominence ever since. However, this is not the first time this family has dealt with this particular spirit – they have 3 other brands under their belts dating as far back as the 1930s.

The founders of Gin Mare distil their gin in a chapel from the 18th century, dedicated to the virgin of Montserrat in Vilanova i la Geltrú, a small town just outside Barcelona. Gin Mare is unique and revolutionary as it’s made with Arbequina olives, thyme, rosemary, basil and fresh peels from bitter oranges, lemons and oranges. Very few (if any) gins have combined these ingredients to create such an exquisite flavour and it wasn’t an easy choice when having dozens of local botanicals to experiment with for two long years. The fresh peels are left cold macerating for almost a year, while the rest of botanicals are macerated individually in neutral grain alcohol for nearly 2 days prior to distillation. Each botanical is then distilled separately and blended together to obtain the final product – definitely a time-consuming process that pays off in the end!

After seeing the success achieved just two years after its launch in 2010, the bottle underwent a more sophisticated redesign, evoking the Mediterranean sea by mimicking a wave at the base of the bottle. It’s amazing how such a simple and savvy detail can elevate the overall style, making Gin Mare a more distinctive brand in an already crowded gin market.

Gin Mare + Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water + Rosemary

I can’t help falling in love with this brand. Not only is the bottle extremely elegant, but the matching glass is simply exquisite!

What is the first thing that hits you when you smell this gin? Herbs. This is why it’s not uncommon to see bars and restaurants pick herbs as their garnish for this gin – basil in particular and usually in conjunction with tonics like Schweppes or Fever Tree.

In my case however, I opted for rosemary. This is not the first time I use this herb in a gin and tonic. I’ve tried it with some No.209 as shown in this blog entry. I enjoy using rosemary when cooking, but if I can add it to a gin and tonic, so much the better! As for the tonic, I went for Fever Tree’s Mediterranean variety to give a slight citrus element to the cocktail.

First impression? The mix was very smooth on the palate; it was neither too sweet nor too bitter and not very bubbly (unlike when using Schweppes tonic). The rosemary really tied the whole drink together, giving your senses an intense and pleasing experience. When left soaking in the mixture long enough, not only did it give the drink a woody pungency, but it also made all the herbal tones flourish even more. A few years ago, I learned in a G&T class that herbs like basil and rosemary keep giving out flavour when left in the glass, so if extra flavour is what you’re looking for, be sure to leave them in for longer! They can always be discarded whenever you see fit.

Gin Mare + Fever Tree Tonic Water + Orange + Rosemary

Gin Mare’s creators suggested this combination (a slight variation from my recipe above by adding some orange peel to the mix), but using your tonic water of choice. I decided to use the standard Fever Tree tonic water since I believed its neutral taste would enhance the citrus undertones of the gin.

As usual, being a herbal gin, the rosemary continued being prominent in every sip. It maintained its smoothness and, just like before, leaving the sprig in the gin and tonic longer allowed the herb to accentuate its overall taste. I have to say that adding the orange peel gave it a distinctly sweeter flavour, but also made the drink somewhat more bitter on the palate after swallowing. Depending on how much orange peel was used, the level of bitterness would increase or decrease. Either way, the orange played a strong part alongside the rosemary!

Despite this second recipe highlighting the use of the standard Fever Tree tonic water, I have to say I also tried this mixture with Fever Tree’s Mediterranean tonic water and overall, I would still choose the latter for both recipes in this blog. Perhaps it’s simply my imagination, but the citrus element of this particular tonic combined with the orange peel gave this last blend an exceptional and tastier result!

Find out more about the products mentioned in this post below.

 

 

Gin Mare
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