Well 2017 is finally here and so is our first gin review of the year!
Situated just outside the village of Shipbourne, Kent, nestled under the Greensand Ridge in The Weald, Greensand ridge distillery is true micro-distillery with sustainability at its heart.
Their mission is to reduce food waste at the farm gate by fermenting and distilling quality produce that the supermarket’s won’t take.
In their own words…
We’re not trying to emulate anyone or anything. We simply want to make the finest spirits possible that truly reflect the flavours of the woods, orchards, fields and hedgerows that surround our distillery.
They currently produce two spirits, a raspberry ghosts and a London dry gin which is the subject of this review.
Their London dry is distilled in small batches with a combination of 15 different botanicals, 8 of which are foraged from the hills surrounding the distillery. These are:
- Cobnuts
- Gorse
- Oak Moss
- Honey
- Rosehips
- Hawthorn Berries
- Bay Laurel
- Poppy Seeds
The remaining 7 are the classical botanicals and in their own words bring resinous, spicy and citrus characters to the lineup.
So, lets get down to the tasting…
Smell:
On the nose you get a strong sweet scent mixed with an earthy freshness and subtle citrus. There’s a predominant scent of cut grass which can be attributed to the oak moss, bay laurel and poppy seeds. The Gorse flower is also interesting as it has a vanilla/coconut scent giving the gin a delicate floral note
Taste:
Flavour wise, I found it to be a lovely creamy gin with a fantastic freshness running through it. Its a very rounded gin with no particular botanical standing out on its own. According to their website, this was the direction there were going with this gin so in my opinion they have hit the mark. I then added a splash of water to open up the flavours. The tingle across the mouth is much more prominent when taken with water and you also get a lot more fresh juniper and a lovely spiciness which can be contributed to the Hawthorn Berries.
In a G&T:
Paired with Franklin and Sons tonic and you get quite a fresh Gin and Tonic. A stronger flavoured tonic would overpower this gin so sticking to a less complicated tonic would be the way to go. Due to the fact it’s quite a rounded flavour with no overpowering botanicals I think this would make a perfect cocktail gin. I hope to experiment with this in the future.
In conclusion as a first attempt I am really impressed with this gin. Its a lovely rounded gin that would please more gin lovers and maybe even turn a few heads. I love that they are trying to create a sustainable gin and to reduce food waste.
You can find out more about Greensand ridge distillery on their website here
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