A gin with a bite …
Still focusing on Iberian spirits our Gin Scouts, Bill and Lesley discovered the above on their visit to Spain but, I’m afraid, it’s another one you can’t find here in Blighty; unless your curiosity outweighs the cost of importing it. In fact, we’re beginning to think we should levy the Spanish/Portuguese tourist boards, in that we’re always encouraging our readers to visit these beautiful countries and search for the gins we review.
Vánagandr London Dry, from Galicia in Spain, packs a powerful punch at 43% ABV and contains cassia, angelica root, cinnamon, orange peel and cardamom, accompanied by the usual juniper and citrus notes. Created from 100% wheat grain alcohol, this zesty tipple features local Galician water, fed by a rainy climate along its rugged Atlantic coast.
Visually, the stunning label on the bottle is worth exploring as much as the contents: featuring a wolf which, the distillery informs us is known as ‘Vánagandr or Fenrir,’ the most famous lupine in Norse mythology: “When he is born, the gods mark him as the one destined to bring about the end of the gods in Ragnarok, but he is accepted into the gods’ midst by Odin’s command.
According to the distiller’s website, “the wolf becomes gigantic, and the gods become afraid of him, so they tie him up and he breaks free, so they re-tie him with ever larger chains until no one can bind him. So, they ask the dwarves to make an unbreakable chain, and they created Gleipnir, a silky ribbon made with the sound of a cat’s footsteps, a woman’s beard, and the roots of mountains… ‘We wanted to contact the dwarves to make our still, but they only make impossible things…’”
The myth continues: “When the gods ask Fenrir if they can bind him with the chain, he refuses as he does not trust them. They appeal to his pride, saying “You who are so great…” and he agrees, but one of them must put their hand in his mouth as a pledge in case he cannot break free. So the god Tyr puts his hand into his mouth – this being the moment our friend, the illustrator David Pintor, captured on our label – and of course, he loses it, so they placed a sword in his mouth so that he couldn’t bite “and from his mouth flowed the river Ván,” hence the name Ván A Gandr, the monster of the river Ván.”
‘We wanted to contact the dwarves to make our still, but they only make impossible things…’”
In the end, Vánagandr broke his chains and killed Odin, causing the fall of the gods … but the region has always had a penchant for legend and religion, being the destination for the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, where thousands still journey to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. You wonder if the Celtic story of the wolf was ‘sanitised’ by crusading Christians, with St George and the dragon becoming the less pagan, but more palatable Christian version…
Returning to the bite of Vánagandr gin – it’s remarkable in that the complex taste comes in waves, starting with refreshing orangy citrus, then layers of the aromatic botanicals come through – floral and warm with spice aromas, offering a palate that begins mildly then leaves with a grand finale of cardamom and cinnamon. So, it’s no wonder it has won multiple World Gin Awards – and the equally coveted International Spirits Challenge Trophy 2024. We enjoyed ours with tonic and a wedge of orange.
€35,00 is the cost of this tipple!
