A premium gin to make you go gaga –

This has to be about the most enigmatic gin your blogger has sampled so far in nearly a year since we launched the site, and it’s one which I would equate with watching a performance of Swan Lake or some other famous ballet: I admire the artistry, but it’s just not really my cup of tea.

As with a number of our reviews I tried Brockmans Premium Gin during a visit to the Dartmoor Whisky Distillery here in Bovey Tracey, where Greg and Simon continue to stock their shelves with a fascinating array of spirits; although their own juniper offering is still under development.

While the textured black glass hints at something exotic, the bottle’s tame compared to the simmering eroticism of the website, but we’ll come back to the maker’s on-line excitements later. Let’s deal with the complex taste experience first.

The juniper berries for this undoubtedly classy concoction are apparently grown wild in Tuscany and customers should detect hints of pine and lavender underpinning a unique basket of botanicals.

Orange as well as lemon peel join with cassia bark, orris and coriander for what should be a beguiling bite, but there are five more flavours that are probably responsible for the liquor-like smoothness which I think is stopping me from awarding Brockmans the gold medal its creators so obviously crafted for.

Wild blueberries, blackberries, almonds, angelica and liquorice all get in on the act to make it a bit like one of those Hollywood movies with too many cameo roles for famous faces, ending up distracting you from the main storyline.

I had my first taste, as I often do, with a slice of lime and a good splash of Fever-Tree Indian tonic – though I should probably have accepted Greg’s offer of multiple fruit garnishes: for that is closer to the maker’s suggestion.

According to the website, the perfect serve features a handful of blueberries and a twist of pink grapefruit peel along a with double measure and a spurt of premium tonic over some double-D ice cubes. This recommendation appears just beneath a slideshow of shapely models dressed in the sort of vamp-ish outfits you’d expect Lady Gaga to wear on the red carpet.  It was no surprise then to find ‘Burlesque’ and ‘Forbidden Fruit’ amongst the suggested cocktail recipes, while a profile shot of another female in a mask, sucking on a long black straw, invites you to check out the pleasures of Instagram.

‘”ALL Good suggestive fun, but for me this was an orgy of tastes where the cast list was just too long.”