Cambridge Distillery calls the Watenshi the “world’s most exclusive gin”. The UK-based distillery makes some intriguing – and much less exclusive – gins such as a dry gin and the Truffle Gin. Its founders William and Lucy Lowe claim to have a singular distillation matrix, in which “temperature, timing and pressure are just three of the nine variables that they use to tailor the treatment of each botanical.” This helps them, the founders say, to “distill the freshest and most delicate botanicals and achieve a level of precision vastly beyond that of traditional distillation.”
With a yield of only 15 ml every still run, it takes about 50 distillations for a single Watenshi bottle. The dry, medium-bodied gin has notes of shiso, yuzu, and a base of shanso and juniper. The gin is sold in a hand-blown decanter bottle.
GBP 3,000
A G&T always sounds lovely on a muggy summer evening, but how does a gin infused with Riesling sound? That’s exactly what Ferdinand’s Saar Dry Gin Goldcap, a joint effort between a distiller and winemaker, is.
The ‘Saar’ in the gin’s name comes from a wine-growing district in Germany’s Mosel region, which is especially famous for its Riesling, and according to the Avadis distillery, where it is made, “only the heart of once-a-year distillation finds its way” into the gin. Over 30 botanicals, almost all of them sourced locally, go into the making of gin – dried Riesling grapes, mirabelles, cocoa beans… – while the Riesling comes from the nearby Zilliken estate.
$60 for a 500ml bottle.
Procera is made from the African juniper (Juniperus procera) that grows in the Kenyan highlands. But unlike in most gins, which see the use of dried juniper, Procera uses freshly harvested berries that makes a massive difference.
The other botanicals that go into this five-year-old gin are sourced from across Africa and include acacia honey, pink peppercorn, and pixie oranges. The gin, which is distilled at Procera’s craft distillery in Nairobi, comes in a hand-blown bottle with a hand-carved palm wood stopper.
$92
Carolus Nolet, Sr.’s family has been in the business of making gins for the last 350-odd years in Holland, the birthplace of gin. If you don’t quite fancy their $43 fruit-forward Silver Gin, there’s always the Reserve that uses saffron, which costs upwards of $1,000, as its centrepiece spice. Other individually macerated or pot-distilled botanicals in the gin include verbena, juniper, and citrus. On the company’s website Carolus, who, by the way, also created Ketel One vodka, advises potential patrons to pour a small amount of the gin into a tumbler glass to savour its unique aromas and complexity. “To experience the aromas even better, you can add a few ice cubes. Now with your drink prepared, take a small sip and swirl it around your palate. As you do, take time to recognize the coveted notes of warm, yet spicy saffron, and the merest hint of delicate verbena as well as many other botanicals found in the Reserve.”
$700
The Isle of Wight distillery’s navy strength gin – a lot stronger than the regular stuff – is a tribute to one of the most famous naval warships in Britain’s history. The 57% ABV gin has had four limited edition releases since October 2016. The final batch, released in May 2021, was aged for five years. According to the distillery, “each barrel contains oak staves from the HMS Victory…, imparting this famous ship’s true character in the gin.” While the last two releases have sold out, the first two are still listed on the Isle of Wight website, in individually numbered bottle.
GBP 249
