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"The Botanist", small-batch, artisanal Islay gin we use nine of the classic gin aromatics – orris root, cassia bark, coriander seed, etc – and augment these with a heady harvest of 22 wild, native island botanicals, hand-picked by our expert foraging team from the windswept hills, peat bogs and atlantic shores of this Hebridean island of Islay.
bought a bottle the other day,
very good,
46%
31 herbs,
started in 2010 with 15,000 bottles and had such a good feed back they continued it,
Wow, some gin. Made of (I hope) bruiladagh whisky? Or not? 31 herbs? Or 9? A Dutch geneva (might be from France or Germany even) will normally have no more than 7, maybe 8 herbs. Twelve is for show offs. 31 for ... pretendings to be.
On the back ground ... olive ... gin tonic style glass.
If you like it, go ahead.
When you really want to enjoy geneva, why isn't the base likker aged like a great B. might? Why not drink it pure? Why not limit yoursef to the very least amount of herbt you need to make a bruiladagh whisky come to it's own?
I had an interesting discusion once with a anglosaxon member of the forum. He did everything in a great way, and produced a great gin ... only to put it into the fridge and put it together with tonic, stating "that's the way to drink it". And whom am I to say no? If you like a gin / tonic, go ahead.
A blended whisky with coke or 7-up is good, maybe great.
But don't put a geneva (or a single malt whisky) in coke or Tonic. Please. It scares away all the subtle tones it has. As a whisky and/or as a geneva.
Now especially a base likker lig B. should give so many taste notes to a gin. I would say: juniper, coriander, some sweet orange peel and honey. No more, no less. Not close to their approach, which - sorry- humiliates both gin,whisky as well as geneva.
Sorry to see them do that.
Odin.
"Great art is created only through diligent and painstaking effort to perfect and polish oneself." by Buddhist filosofer Daisaku Ikeda.
Thanks for this post. I have been considering making the recipe for some time now. I believe I have followed your recipe carefully. I plan to run this tomorrow morning. Approx 16hours of soaking.
This boiler is at 75% capacity, as I am running 17 liters. I do have an additional salad bowl(few more inches of head space) that sits on top...so I should be ok. I am very excited about trying this...
So Odin, what type of still is traditional for genever? A pot for stripping and some sort of pot still with gin basket for spirit run or a pot for stripping and some kind of column with gin basket for spirit runs? Or maybe just a pot still stripping run then soaking the herbs and a second pot still spirit run? What would you suggest is the ideal set up for genever?I know there are many methods tio make genever, but which do you find makes the best product?
So far I am thrilled with the smell. I swear I could smell the mango, but it may just be a mix of the citrus fruit/mango/juniper...it smells wonderful now at 1 liter. I plan to collect 8.5 liters -- shut it down and dilute to 42%. Glad I have the day off of work...even skipping the gym today to run this out slow.
The last 500MLs are coming over now. There has been a change in smell the last couple hundred MLs...It is almost more perfumey -- it may be the licorice, but it is still mixed with plenty juniper smell -- the smell is still very pleasant.
Editing for added information:
Ok, finished the run. 8.5 Liters at 69%abv. I am out of distilled water to dilute -- going to get some now and bottle it up. Smells is great, I have yet to taste it -- waiting for dilution. Will be adding 5.5 liters to bring it down to 42% = 14 liters (3.7 gallons), of what I am hoping is amazing stuff
Sorry if I am pestering folks by continuing to post on this...but I am thrilled with the results. The recipe was easy to follow, and it performed exactly how Odin stated. The flavor is intense in a good way -- the fruit plows through and it is very floral. The only credit I can take on this is that the neutral was clean...the ratio of ingredients were spot on. I have never been able to sip a gin...I am sipping this now -- room temp and loving it.
That is going to be tough, but I have tucked it away. I will give away most of this to family during Christmas...so the timing will be right. Thanks again...
Forgive me for lifting on the back of an older post but I like to stay on topic, in this case (Genever). I am in the process of making what is called an "Old Genever" and am looking for some advice. I am leaning towards a blend of "Malt wine" and a "neutral" Vodka style (such as Odin's simple grain Vodka) as this is what Old Genevers tend to be based on a combination of at least 15% Malt wine and a relatively "neutral alcohol. I already distilled an AGM (Malt wine) with an ABV of 40%.
Q1, should I dilute the Malt wine to 35% and run it for a second time?
Q2, should I use the Malt wine or Neutral alcohol to apply to the herbs mixture for the final distil or should I have mixed malt wine and neutral alcohol already. In either case any suggestions ideas to the ratio Malt vs. neutral? I assume when the commercial distillers blend their Old Genever the ratio is predominantly driven by commercial interests. Any thoughts are welcome. Arthur