Classics never go out of style, they’re like a great Tux or a Little Black Dress, a must have in everyone’s wardrobe – or in this case, drinks cabinet.
But what makes a classic dry gin? Or, more to the point what makes a GREAT classic dry gin?
Gin lovers are an experimental lot, we like variety, collecting, drinking around and exploring. But we do have favourites that we return to, or we may lean into a particular flavour profile more often than not. That’s not to say we’re not pleasantly surprised and excited when we discover something that tips the status quo just so.
BUT FIRST, FOUNDATIONS!
A Classic Dry style gin is all about the juniper. A GREAT classic dry style gin is juniper forward but is balanced beautifully with complimentary botanicals.
Each distillery has their own unique recipe that has been created, tweaked and perfected by the distiller. There are of course the usual suspects that many distillers use such as cardamom, orris root, angelica root etc. but the craftmanship comes from those unexpected additions or in the quantities which they are used.
"We were bold in our use of juniper, the result is (we think) very juniper forward with hints of fruit and refreshing citrus bringing the palate to life."
Our Original Classic Dry Gin holds a special place in our heart as the first gin that we produced. Months of painstaking experimentation with botanicals, ratios and equipment then refining, test distilling and tasting rewarded us with a crisp clean Gin. We were bold in our use of juniper, the result is (we think) very juniper forward with hints of fruit and refreshing citrus bringing the palate to life.
The feedback and accolades we received from our first Gin release encouraged us to enter a number of international spirit competitions where we were delighted to see our efforts rewarded with numerous awards , including Trophies and Gold Medals.
THE EMPHASIS ON CRAFTMANSHIP
Small batch distilling truly is a labour of love and while it is labour intensive it is also extremely rewarding. Just about everything is done by hand from hand-cutting ingredients to peeling baskets of lemons or even stirring our distillates with our trusty paddle.
Our juniper berries and Australian grown coriander seed (from a farm in the Kimberly no less) are macerated with our blend of seven traditional and native Australian botanicals and left to infuse in our base spirit for many hours before they are heated in our custom-made copper pot still.
Throughout the process the heat on the still is adjusted every hour. Vapour from the pot makes its way up through the head of the still into the still column and the musical tapping begins. Mesmerising drips and drops start forming on the still’s column windows as the vapour condenses and recondenses making its way further up the column before the pure spirit is expelled and collected at above 80% ABV.
All that is left is for dilution to occur. Our gin is then left to rest for a few weeks before bottling begins.
Taking Gin Further
Now with an award-winning Gin holding its own on the world stage, it was time to take our Gin a little further.
From our Single Barrel Aged Gin to our Wild Sloe Gin, and Ginfusions - a brand-new range of gin-based spirits infused with the best natural ingredients available. Our Classic Dry Gin not only shines on its own but provides a unique and complementary taste that forms the basis for our other Gin and Ginfusions.
Our Stills
We run two German made copper pot stills at the distillery, our very first still the 130 litre Carl and the bigger and more recent addition 300 litre Arnold Holstein.
It is not uncommon to have both stills running at the same supercharging the air in the distillery with delicious aromas, however the smaller Carl still is our go-to for experimenting with new spirits and producing our unique Harvest Blend EXQ Digestive and the occasional limoncello.
View our full range
