Black velvet in a bottle –
This hand-crafted 41.6% gin from the land of hot springs may lack the muscularity of if its national rugby team, but it does – uniquely in our experience – share the distinctive colour of their shirts. And I should probably also report that despite having sampled gin from numerous coloured glass and porcelain bottles down the years, when Gin Lover One arrived home from Waitrose cradling the brooding square black bottle, I still expected the contents to be clear. Instead, it actually has the translucent quality of blackcurrant juice, though the fruitiness is far less apparent in the aroma or on the tastebuds.
Interestingly, down amongst the etched small print, the makers caution that colours from nature may fade with time and that the bottle should be stored in a dark place. Although I suspect that with the current warm spell the UK is experiencing that this refreshingly crisp drink might disappear from the door of our fridge quite rapidly; accompanied by the ice and Fever-Tree Indian tonic, plus a slice of fresh orange.
“Unique and complex” are prominent amongst the words that Scapegrace Distillery uses to describe its creation, while they also dip into the Simon and Garfunkel songbook with the thought; “Hello darkness my old friend.”
In fact, the spirit blends the juniper with organically grown plants, flowers and berries. And being located on the shores of Lake Dunstan, where the 45th Parallel runs through central Otago, the makers also have access to limitless supplies of the pristine meltwater running off the Southern Alps. It will be small surprise then that Scapegrace – the country’s largest distillery – is also renowned for its aged whiskies like Vanguard and Anthem.
Premier Black Gin then has pedigree to go with its hint of mystery and – as with Wildcat which was marketed at those who “come to life after dark,” likely finds its way into any number of cocktails in upmarket nightclubs. However, unlike that slightly pretentious distillation, this antipodean tipple actually delivers far more depth, so I will finish then with a final thought from Scapegrace: “In nature Black has a flavour.”
This unusual gin can be purchased widely for around £30
