Although I’ve had a few rums and whiskeys in my tastings before, I’ve never had a gin. As it was coming up to summer, it seemed liked the perfect theme for the second half of this tasting. I’m no gin expert, but it must be said it was a lot of fun learning about the production processes, history and styles of gin. I knew I wanted a wide variety of gin, just as I try to take a lot of different styles of beers in the tastings. Furthermore, I decided to go for a London dry gin, an Old Tom gin and a Navy strength gin to finish with.
Bombay Sapphire Citron Pressé is made with London dry gin mixed with Mediterranean lemons and is a new product from one of the most famous British gin brands. This was blended with Hammars Bryggeri grapefruit and hibiscus tonic and orange garnish, creating a delightful plethora of floral and citrus notes in the glass. For the slightly sweeter Old Tom style of gin, I went for Purity Organic gin from Sweden. I paired it with Ekobryggeriet cucumber tonic, which made a light and refreshing blend. With cucumber and black pepper garnish, the fresh grassy characteristics of the gin were accentuated. The final gin of the night was Royal Dock navy strength gin from Hyamans Distillers. As it was navy strength, it had the highest alcohol content at 57%, as so gave a bigger kick than the others. Blended with lemon and citrus thyme tonic and finished with a classic lemon wedge, this was powerful yet still balanced.
When asked, the guests were quite split on which they thought was their favourite, though I do believe the Old Tom and cucumber edged out the others to be crowned the winner on the night. I was very happy with all 3 combinations and if you’re looking for a great gin and tonic pairing over the summer months, I can highly recommend all three of these!