The White Knight household had a joyous arrival this morning. A package was delivered much to my surprise as it contained items which I had forgotten that I'd ordered just before Christmas. Tearing away the packaging I revealed 2 delightful bottles of special gins from the Cotswold Distillery situated towards the southern-most tip of the Warwickshire countryside at Stourton near Shipston-on-Stour.
My first experience of Cotswolds Gin must have been soon after the Distillery was opened in 2014.
I was having dinner at the excellent No 33 The Scullery in Stratford-upon-Avon and I spotted the bottle of Cotswolds Gin on the shelf of the tiny bar in the very narrow little restaurant which itself had only recently opened. I couldn't resist trying it with the recommended accompaniment of Fevertree tonic as it was produced in a local Warwickshire Distillery and my first experience of the flavour is savoured to this day. That Christmas everyone I knew was given a bottle of Cotswold Gin as their present and my present to myself was two bottles which I viewed as being well-deserved. Since that happy time of discovery Cotswolds Distillery has expanded into making whiskys and specialist gins.
An early specialist gin was 1616 which is said to pay homage to William Shakespeare and to be the distillery's interpretation of what gins would have been like in Shakespeare's time when gins were largely made in Holland. I remember buying a bottle which had newly arrived in the impressive little wine and spirit merchant's shop on Henley Street in Stratford, Vinology, which is situated close by Shakespeare's birthplace and which the very helpful owner admitted he had not yet had chance to sample himself and so he could not really tell me his impression of it. I splashed out on a bottle of it anyway and first sampled it with friends who were visiting me prior to going out to Purnell's for my birthday dinner.
I really should have read the instructions as 1616 certainly is not a gin and tonic gin, made as we are told by historic methods using a combination pure wheat spirit, distilled malt wines and gin botanicals including juniper, coriander, angelica, orange peel, cassia, nutmeg and allspice. The spirit is distilled in red wine casks and diluted to 46% strength. If I had read the instructions I would have known that this drink would have been best served by itself on ice or with ginger or ginger beer. Still, a memorable drink from Cotswald's Distillery.
And so to the package which arrived today with the two new Cotswolds Gins safely wrapped but rapidly unwrapped. The first bottle was Baharat which is said to be a tribute to those inhabitants of the Cotswolds area who lived in Georgian and Victorian times and who set out from their Midlands homes to travel the world and bring back various treasures and flavours from their journeys.
Baharat is produced by adding a combination of middle eastern spices to juniper and wheat spirit, the spices including cumin, coriander, chilli, cardamom, clove, black pepper and sweet citrus oil. It is recommended to be drunk (this time I read the instructions) as a gin and tonic garnished with a slice of orange peel perhaps half dipped in chilli flakes or with ginger ale in place of the tonic. Mmmm ...
The second bottle contained Cotswolds Ginger Gin which contains Cotswolds Dry Gin casked for 3 months and then sweet Valencia orange peel is added to the matured gin with candied root ginger which soak in the gin for several weeks. Final sweetening is carried out with the addition of honey and the whole is diluted to 46% for bottling. Recommendations for serving suggested that it is best served as it is or on ice or with a few drops of Angostura Bitters or with warmed apple juice. Again, mmmmm .....
With this little collection in the gin cabinet it looks like being a rather comfortable winter. And all of it made in the west midlands.
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