Gin Dreckley: Tarquin’s Cornish Dry.

There’s a lot for gin fans to like about this nicely nuanced London Dry crafted down Wadebridge way, so please don’t be put off by the pale blue bottle which looks like it belongs in a 1980s Beefeater restaurant as a table decoration: with the plastic seal shaped to resemble candle wax dribbling down the neck.

Juliet was risk averse enough to pick up our 50 CL bottle on a trip to our local Spar shop, attracted by a new Gin Shelf display and of course, recognising the maker’s name; and we’ve enjoyed a number of different serves over the past couple of weeks.  These included experimenting with Fever Tree Clementine and Indian tonics as well as Grapefruit Tonic, and a variety of our frozen citrus slices.

All of them seemed to complement the flavour which blends the zingyness of fresh orange zest with the muted taste and smell of hand-picked violets.  The base juniper and some slightly earthier or spicy notes get in on the act also; all adding to a lingering enjoyment which is probably bolstered by the above par strength of 42^% ABV.

Widely available, expect to pay around £30 for a 70cl bottle

We would probably rank Tarquin’s offering above the supermarket chain’s own ‘Botanicals’ gin and its county cousin, Wrecking Coast, which was slightly too sweet to our taste due to the inclusion of clotted cream.  In fact this Cornish concoction is more on a par with St Ives Gin and I’d be tempted to try a Navy Strength version as is offered by Trevethan Chauffeur’s Choice: both of which are far more attractively packaged.  Sadly the styling of the Tarquin’s Cornish Dry bottle is distinctly more Essex disco than ‘wild coast’, as the makers claim.

TOWIE