Cotswolds Dry Gin review

In your dreams! –

I love the Cotswolds, and would move to Chipping Campden in a flash if I could afford it – but I can’t, so find myself visiting it often in my ‘parallel universe’ (dreams), where there is a walled garden in honey-coloured limestone: against the wall are espalier pear trees, while my patch of the Cotswolds also contains an orchard, veg patch and herb garden.

Dreams are odd things – well, mine are – a couple of days ago, we finally cracked open a bottle of Cotswolds Dry Gin, which I’d received from dear friend Julie, and which had somehow been misplaced in our gin stash. A firm favourite, this gin will definitely be purchased again – despite it contributing to one very weird dream.

Basically, after enjoying Julie’s gin, I had a bad night’s sleep; here’s how it went: it started with cramp in the left foot, so I fetched a glass of milk and read for a while until the discomfort eased. Around 4am, I turned off the light and tried to get back to sleep – only to be awoken by the dawn chorus and being aware that, preceding this, I’d had an unsettling dream involving chainsaws.

What I really wanted was to be taken back to my Cotswolds dream, where the warm hues in the high wall compliment the cornflower blue of the sky perfectly … I enjoy a G&T in this magical place, and always have an overwhelming sense of wellbeing when there, which will stay with me for the rest of the day.  Looking at the bottle of Cotswolds Dry Gin espouses the same feelings: must be the word ‘Cotswolds.’

It is, in fact, a superb London dry-style gin: containing angelica root, coriander, lime and pink grapefruit zest, as well as lavender from nearby Snowshill, and Egyptian bay leaves.  The Cotswolds Distillery asserts the “final botanicals are cardamom seed and black peppercorn, to give a hint of spice.”  To the nose, the hint of lavender is subtle; to taste, the dryness comes from the angelica root.

At 46^%, this gin packs a punch – we enjoyed it with Indian tonic and lime, but Fever Tree suggests Aromatic tonic plus pink grapefruit & fresh bay leaf to garnish. Alternatively, Indian tonic with a garnish of pink grapefruit and black pepper – I will hopefully be trying these two serves in my parallel universe, as well as in real life, very soon. Dream on!