Unwrap new spirit releases in time for Christmas
A RAFT of new gins designed to tempt customers to trade up in the on-trade over the coming months have been released ahead of the festive season.
The Old Curiosity Distillery, in Edinburgh, is bringing back its Christmas gin in partnership with 2018 Great British Bake Off finalist Ruby Bhogal.
Distilled with ginger, cinnamon and cardamom, the company’s Christmas gin is said to contain “the undeniably familiar smell of Christmas and provides a festive spicy flavour”.
The 39% ABV spirit is infused with mallow petals to provide a ‘festive colour’, which changes to pink when mixed with tonic water.
Hamish Martin, herbologist and founder of The Old Curiosity Distillery, said: “Following our initial success in 2018, where a small-batch production of 50 cases sold out in a few days, we decided to make the Christmas gin a regular variant as part of our seasonal collection.”
Meanwhile Whyte & Mackay is looking to get its claws into bars this Christmas with a new flavoured variant of its Wildcat Gin.
Wildcat Bramble, which is bottled at 37.5% ABV, is described as offering “notes of blackberry, raspberry, hedgegrow fruits and cherry for a sweet, balanced taste”.
Mike Greggs of Whyte & Mackay said: “Wildcat Bramble is a decadent new liquid with a mysterious and uncommon flavour, specifically designed to meet consumer demand for new, fun flavours of gin – perfect for those after-dark occasions.”
Wemyss Family Spirits, the firm behind Darnley’s Gin, has also released a new gin in time for Christmas.
Smoke and Zest, the second in its limited edition Cottage Series range – each of which is said to tell a different story of the botanicals found around Darnley’s Fife distillery – is the result of a desire to create a ‘smoky gin’ which celebrates the Fife-grown barley that has been selected for sister brand Kingsbarns single malt whisky.
Scott Gowans of Darnley’s Gin commented: “Creating a smoky gin has been an exciting development project and for this second Cottage Series release, I was again inspired by botanicals found around the distillery.
“The finished gin is unusual, but very approachable and still has juniper at its heart. It’s an amazing marriage of orange and zest flavours up front, with a malty character and a smoke intensity that grows over time.”
