Geranium London Dry Gin

Product of: United Kingdom

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Created by Henrik Hammer, a Dane who has for many years conducted tastings and seminars about gin, and whose mother owned a famous gin bar in Copenhagen. He conceived geranium as a flavour for gin as the smell from the leaves reminded him of the aroma of gin and tonic itself.

When Henrik made a chemical analysis of geranium he found that the significant oils in the plant (geraniol, geraniol formate, linalol, rose oxide, citronelol) are commonly found in fruits, vegetables and spices so he concluded this would be a flavour that would easily mix with a wide variety of mixers.

Henrik's father was a chemist who worked with essential oils for the perfume and food industry for decades. The father and son team bought a five litre copper pot still and started to experiment how best to process and distil the geranium to best extract its natural oils.

Henrik wanted to make an authentic London Dry Gin so approached Thames Distillery in London to produce his gin which as well as geranium, also uses traditional botanicals such as juniper, coriander, lemon peel, angelica root, orris root, cassia bark and liquorice. A couple of additional secret ingredients bring the total number of botanicals to ten.

The geraniums used are harvested in Denmark and used fresh. Henrik found the concentration of the oils varied greatly according to the soil, age and season so he carefully monitors this and sends processed geranium to the distillery.

Geranium gin is based on English wheat neutral alcohol and is distilled in a pot still. A "batch distilled concentrate" is made which is then stretched with the addition of more neutral alcohol after distillation.

Review and Tasting

Sampled on 01/09/2012

Appearance:

Crystal clear.

Aroma:

Reassuringly traditional London dry gin style nose with fresh aromas of upfront juniper, citrus and floral notes.

Taste:

Clean fresh palate, rightly led by juniper with strong citrus and aromatic tea-like floral notes adding to its considerable complexity.

Aftertaste:

Long, fresh, slightly bitter piney juniper finish carries further floral notes.