FIRST JOURNEYS - A RACE AROUND THE WORLD 2020 - PIN 23 OF 23
No.3 GIN, Schiedam, The Netherlands
AROUND THE WORLD, ONE BOTTLE AT A TIME.
PHILEAS FOGG WOULD SURELY APPROVE
After 12 days, countless time zones, far too many gins and more than a few virtual flights, I've made it back to London!
Like Phileas Fogg, I'm finishing my journey back in London — although thankfully without having to cross the world by steam train, ship and elephant!
My final stop is The Reform Club, where Fogg himself set off on his famous journey in Around the World in 80 Days.
The irony isn't lost on me that I managed my own version in just 12 days — although mine was entirely virtual and considerably more gin-fuelled!
So, I'm raising one final glass to the people who make these wonderful spirits, to the places that inspired them and to the stories that make every bottle just that little bit more interesting.
Cheers! And if Phileas Fogg can make it around the world in 80 days, surely I can do it again... 🥂🌍🍸
Atlas note: And I did!!
About No.3 Gin
No.3 Gin began with Berry Bros. & Rudd, London's oldest wine and spirits merchant, and the rather ambitious idea of creating the perfect London Dry Gin. The project took two years, with the team working alongside gin experts including Dr David Clutton and Alessandro Palazzi, the Martini maestro at DUKES Bar. The name comes from No.3 St James's Street in London, the historic home of Berry Bros. & Rudd since 1698.
What makes No.3 particularly interesting for my atlas is that, despite its very London identity, it isn't actually distilled in London. The team travelled to Holland, the historic home of gin, to find a unique 100-year-old, brick-encased copper pot still, which is used to make the gin today. The botanicals are steeped for 16 hours before distillation, and the finished gin is diluted to 46% ABV.
There are just six botanicals — juniper, coriander seed, angelica root, cardamom, grapefruit peel and Spanish orange peel — designed to give the gin its three key flavour characteristics of juniper, citrus and spice. It was created particularly with the Martini in mind, which seems entirely appropriate given its connection to Alessandro Palazzi and DUKES Bar.
"A Celebration"
Cocktail: Martini with olives
So although the bottle, name and whole story are unmistakably London, the gin itself is a rather lovely example of British gin-making expertise meeting Dutch distilling tradition — conceived in St James's Street, London, but distilled in Holland. And that, for me, is exactly the sort of detail that makes a bottle worth putting on the atlas.
"Show me a bottle
and I'll tell you a story."