Nocturnal gatherings raise strident spirits …
While the moody landscape which decorates this artisan gin’s label is reminiscent of Dartmoor’s Beast Navy Strength Gin, the inspiration for it started me worrying that the flavour of this Lake District distillation might mimic the Canadian ‘Ice wine’ I once sampled: whose grapes are regularly harvested late at night so that the frost optimises the fruit’s sweetness.
Kendal’s Pennington distillery reports that it follows the recommendation of the Old Farmer’s Almanac to pick its juniper berries under the full moon, but both the smell and the taste sensation are in the best traditions of a London Dry – reading right through from the earthy roots to the citrus notes and spicy finish.
The artist Faith Guthrie apparently drew on her experiences of family holidays in the enchanting National Park in creating the image, while the makers of Lakeland Moon Gin sample a set of seven traditional botanicals: including Spanish oranges blended with Angelica root, cassia bark, orris root and coriander. And as with the marmalade themed Aber Falls gin from Snowdonia, the natural spring water for Lakeland Moon is filtered through ancient bedrock.
We are therefore happy to report that Lakeland Moon is up there with the best of them and richly deserves its back-to-back medals in the London Dry Gin category at the International Spirits Awards.
At 42.1% ABV the gutsy spirit fronts up with the juniper zing when you lift the lid and the flavour sensation is as multi-layered as the geology which helped create it.
