G Gin Review

Oscar Mike Golf! – simplistic label conceals complex taste experience –

It’s just been brought to our attention that Gin should really be used to communicate the seventh letter in the phonetic alphabet, and we’ve got our roving correspondents, Bill and Lesley Ferguson to thank for flagging it up, after they brought us back a very welcome memento of their trip to Dorset.

And equally newsworthy is the fact that the small batch G Gin, produced by Vineyards of Sherborne, is such a lovely ‘sundowner’ that we have been forced to put it straight into our top ten of juniper favourites.  The big question then was which of the existing brands would take the drop?

This remarkably smooth yet distinctive 40^% London Dry Gin style drink is based on a grain spirit from Liberty Fields, while the monotone label on the front of the clear bottle simply carries the number 298 and the signatures of the two ladies who produce it. Oh and the website address for the business – www.vineyardsofsherborne.co.uk– which describes itself as an independent wine and spirit retailer.

Their recipe blends the base spirit with Cubeb berries, Orriss root, Angelica root, orange peel, lemon peel and fresh lime as well as coriander and elderberries.  The exotic inspirations continue with Cardamom, Cassia Bark and, as with Dockyard Gin – Grains of Paradise. The distillers recommend the simplicity of drinking G Gin with Franklin and Sons Natural Indian Tonic, which again we were able to try thanks to our gin scouts, before reverting to the Fever Tree version for later servings.

Each sip was a pleasure for the taste buds, demanding long term recognition.  Which returns us to the decimal point I posed earlier – which of our former favourites is to be demoted for an early ice bath?  Well as our friend Bill spent his working life as an air traffic controller – doing a highly responsible job with all the panache of John Cusack in “Pushing Tin” – we will deliver our verdict using the alphabet of the airwaves.

I’m afraid it has to be Alpha Bravo Echo Romeo that Falls: not because we don’t still think it is excellent, but simply because it is the least ‘ginny’ gin in our top ten – more marmalade liqueur  than dry delight.  And then there were 10.