What a corker!
Many of our friends have been really engaged with our gin blog – to the extent that two of them, Bill and Lesley, even sent to Ireland for an old Irish friend’s favourite tipple, which they felt we just had to review.
Full of enthusiasm for the project, they generously presented us with a bottle of Cork Dry Gin which, in its unusual square shaped bottle, is Ireland’s most popular and has a long association with the city after which it is named.
Apprentice distiller, William Coldwell, first created Cork Dry Gin in 1793, using botanicals and spices brought to the port of Cork by sailing ships from around the world. This recipe has been handed down through eight generations of Cork distillers; and even now, each bottle has the city’s crest proudly featured on the label.
We naturally referred to Fever-Tree’s Pairing Wheel to see what tonic we should try this new gin with. While Cork Dry Gin was not mentioned by name, its strength (37.5%) and the fact that it is dry induced us to try it with Fever-Tree Aromatic and Mediterranean Tonics, as well as ordinary Indian tonic water. All worked really well, with a twist of lime – although I’m tempted to try this gin with a juicy wedge of orange.
“The angelica root almost reminds ME of children’s boiled sweeties”
Cork Dry Gin is bitingly refreshing, like a cold winter’s morning on the Emerald Isle; the myriad of complex tastes derive from a flavour mix of juniper, coriander, angelica and orange botanicals, combined with the neutral triple distilled grain spirit. The zesty citrus flavours of orange give this gin its edge throughout the supping experience, while the surprising – and very pleasant – background note of coffee is present; perhaps this is the ‘secret ingredient.’ The angelica root almost reminds me of children’s boiled sweeties … mmm but perhaps I was imagining that…
I could also detect hints of lemon and lime – with black pepper on the end of the tongue, which lingered for quite a while after finishing my G&T. To put it this way, our dog Josh might not have sniffed this bottle of gin for as long as he did the Wicked Wolf – which is very subtle – I think a snurge of Cork Dry Gin might, though, after a good sneezing fit (the pepper), have given him the boost to catch his first ever tree rat.
