India’s first absinthe and 4 more spirits to have this summer

Radico Khaitan, which makes Rampur Whisky, has just launched Sangam. World Malt Whisky. It will be available in the EU, UK, Singapore, Australia and Travel Retail. About $65.

Summer weekends are an ideal time to put your feet up and explore new spirits. We have a bunch of them this week. First up is the juniper-forward Sabatini gin that uses botanicals from Italy and is distilled in London; an absinthe that is bound to provoke curiosity; two new limited editions from Pistola; and a whisky from Radico Khaitan that ought to be on your radar the next time you are around a duty-free outlet.

Sabatini Gin

Made with 9 botanicals, including fennel and thyme

A Tuscan gin distilled in London, that’s what Sabatini Gin is. The eponymous family sources juniper, fennel, lavender, verbena, thyme, among other botanicals from its estates in Tuscany and ships them, nine in all, to London where they are distilled to create the London Dry gin. The juniper-forward gin, brought to India by spirits and wine importer Anggel’s Share, is crisp and pleasant, with faint notes of fennel and thyme.

Rs 6,300

La’ Ananta Absinthe

La’ Ananta is blended and bottled at 49% ABV in Goa.

Rimbaud, Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde all drank absinthe, which apparently is a thing in London at the moment. But does that mean you, too, will take to the much maligned but equally mysterious spirit? Priyen Patel, founder of Craft Alcobev, thinks you just might. Patel’s La’ Ananta Absinthe, which was launched recently and is available in Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka, uses a “heavy distillate of wormwood, anise, and fennel” which is then blended with lemon balm, chamomile, and lavender. La’ Ananta is blended and bottled at 49% ABV in Goa.

“It’s absolutely niche, but for a young company such as ours, there is a definite space here,” says Patel who is also working on a triple sec and a vermouth. If you don’t think much of having it the traditional way – with a lump of sugar et al – he recommends having it with a dash of lime and ginger ale.  (Goa, Rs 2,895; Maharashtra, Rs 3,200; and Karnataka, Rs 3,876)

Pistola Rosa Select & Phoenix Anejo

If you are into agave-based spirits – everyone seems to be into them – you’d be familiar with Pistola. The Indian agave spirit, made from wild agave Americana grown in the Deccan, is distilled in Chittoor and aged, blended, and bottled in Goa. Pistola has several expressions, which include the Reposado, Joven, and Anejo, and now, there’s also the Rosa Select and the Phoenix Anejo, which were launched recently in Mumbai. The Rosa Select is aged in an ex-KRSMA Cabernet Sauvignon cask from Bordeaux’s Tonnellerie Quintessence, while the Phoenix Anejo has been aged for 20 months in virgin American White Oak casks. (Rosa Select: Rs 5,950 and Phoenix Anejo: Rs 7,895)

Sangam World Malt Whisky

Here’s a whisky you should get your hands on if you are scheduled to travel abroad in the coming months. Radico Khaitan, which makes the much awarded but highly elusive (at least in India) Rampur Whisky, has just launched Sangam. The ‘World Malt Whisky’, according to the company, combines malts sourced from traditional European origins as well from the New World (that’s the only bit of info about the whisky the company is divulging for now). The whisky will be available in the EU, UK, Singapore, Australia and Travel Retail. About $65

Broken Bat Gin

Broken Bat Gin by Nao Spirits

Broken Bat, soft-launched late last year in Goa and Australia by Nao Spirits, is not, by any stretch, a cask-aged gin. But the gin, which has just been launched in Mumbai, is an interesting effort all the same. What Nao Spirits has done is soak wood in a vat of Greater Than high proof gin. More specifically, crowd-sourced cricket bats made of Kashmir willow— as well as cracked or chipped wood sourced from a bat-maker in Kashmir — that were shaved and cleaned before being dunked into the vat for about six weeks. The result is a smooth gin that is still very juniper-forward but with a pleasant woodiness. Rs 2,400.