Botanicals

Unlike many gins where the botanicals used are a closely guarded secret, those used in Bombay Gins are well-known, to the extent that the ten botanicals which give Bombay Sapphire its unique flavour are etched onto the sides of its bottle.

Ivano Tonutti (left) overseeing orris harvest

One of the benefits that came with Bacardi-Martini's takeover of Bombay is the company's botanical expertise which comes from the Martini side of the business. Ivano Tonutti is a fifth generation professional descendant of Luigi Rossi, schooled through his apprenticeship at the Martini-Rossi company under Giovanni Brezza. Ivano is responsible for the botanicals used in all of Bacardi's products, including Martini, Noilly Prat and Bombay Gins. His role is to nurture close relationships built over many years with trusted suppliers and growers and to ensure the quality and consistency of the botanicals used. The botanicals he buys are not the result of vast industrial processes, but are hand reared by artisanal growers.

Every year he selects the best quality botanicals from each supplier, assessing their colour, aroma, freshness and oil content. Excess botanicals are purchased to ensure that if a bad harvest is rejected from one supplier there is still enough of each botanical of a suitable quality held. The botanicals are received at the storage house in England where different batches from each supplier are combined and then combined again with part of the batch from the previous year. This ensures year-on-year consistency. Before a batch of botanicals is sent to the distillery a further ten stringent tests must be passed to ensure the botanicals' suitability.

Juniper from Tuscany, Italy

The main flavouring in all gins, juniper, is a member of the cypress family and its berries contribute a dry, fragrant, herbal aroma with notes of pine

Lemon Peels from Murcia, Spain

Lemon peel brings a strong citrus character to Bombay gins and also lifts the other botanicals. The lemons come from the Murcia region of Spain, a basin

Coriander Seeds from Morocco

Along with juniper and lemon peel, coriander seeds add bright, fresh high notes to Bombay Gins.

Orris root from Tuscany, Italy

Orris root is the rhizome (bulb) of the iris plant and has a very perfumed character. Like angelica root, it helps fix aromas and flavours within Bombay

Angelica Root from Saxony, Germany

Angelica is a key ingredient as it balances the bright, fresh high notes of juniper, lemon peel and coriander seeds while also fixing and marrying the

Bitter Almonds from Spain

Bombay's recipe calls for Spanish Bitter almonds, which have a high essential oil content and give Bombay gins an almond/marzipan, nutty, soapy and spicy

Liquorice from China

Sourced from China's grassy plains, the dried hard fibrous root of the liquorice plant is ground into a powder.

Cassia Bark from Indonesia

A member of the cinnamon family, cassia is sometimes referred to as Chinese cinnamon. It is the bark of a tall evergreen tree grown in Indonesia and is

Cubeb Berries from Java

Along with Grains of Paradise, cubeb berries are one of the two additional botanicals that distinguish Bombay Sapphire from Bombay Dry.

Grains of Paradise from West Africa

Alongside cubeb berries, Grains of Paradise from the moist coastal areas of West Africa also contribute to the peppery finish of Bombay Sapphire, distinguishing