THE GIN PASSPORT ATLAS - DISTILLERY STORY- PINNED ON THE MAP - EUROPE
SHARISH GIN, Portugal
MONSARAZ & THE GUM ROCKROSE
When you think of Portugal, gin probably isn't the first thing that springs to mind. Wine, perhaps. Port, definitely. Yet over the last few years I've discovered some rather fabulous Portuguese gins, many of them made by small producers with plenty of passion and a strong sense of place.
Sharish is one of them.
Produced in the Alentejo region of southern Portugal, Sharish comes from Reguengos de Monsaraz, an area better known for its vineyards, cork oak forests and beautiful landscapes than its gin. The region's connection to the spirit is about as local as it gets, with botanicals and fruit from the surrounding area featuring heavily in the range.
The story begins with António Cuco, who started experimenting with gin in 2013 while he was unemployed. Inspired by childhood memories of meals and afternoon teas with his grandmothers, he began experimenting with local ingredients and taught himself the art of distilling.
There was just one small problem.
He didn't actually have a still.
Undeterred, António modified a pressure cooker and used it to make his first experimental batches of gin. Remarkably, that original contraption still has pride of place at the Sharish visitor centre.
I rather love that sort of story. There is something wonderfully Portuguese about turning a pressure cooker into a still and somehow ending up with an award-winning gin brand!
The name Sharish has an equally interesting history. Sharish is derived from an Arabic name associated with the gum rockrose, a plant native to the region around Monsaraz.
The gum rockrose is a rather pretty shrub, growing up to around 2.5 metres tall, with delicate white flowers. Its leaves and stems are covered in a sticky, fragrant resin called labdanum, which has been used for centuries in perfumes, incense and traditional remedies.
Labdanum is particularly prized by perfumers for its warm, resinous, amber-like aroma.
So there we have it: a gin, a Portuguese town, an Arabic name and a fragrant little shrub. Who said gin wasn't educational?
The bottle is just as distinctive as the story behind it. Its shape and design take inspiration from Monsaraz and its historic landscape, giving it a lovely sense of place before you've even pulled the cork.
This particular bottle is the Sharish Orange Blossom Edition, created in 2019 to celebrate spring and the wonderful scents that come with it. Mine is number 1536 of a limited edition of 9,999 bottles. Not so rare tbh!
The gin begins with the traditional distillation of its botanicals, followed by an infusion of dried orange blossom. This gives the spirit its beautiful, delicate amber hue.
The oranges and orange blossom are sourced locally, from trees growing close to the distillery, while passion fruit comes from Vale de Penamacor. The combination gives the gin a distinctly Portuguese character without losing sight of its juniper heart.
The botanicals include juniper, tangerine peel, coriander seed, passion fruit, lemon verbena, lemon peel, orange peel, angelica root, lavender, liquorice and orange blossom.
On the nose, there is an immediate sweetness and a beautiful floral citrus character. The first sip brings a lovely burst of orange before the spices and warming botanicals begin to appear. It is complex without being complicated and has enough character to stand up beautifully to a light tonic.
This is definitely one of those gins where I recommend taking a sip before adding anything to it. There is a lot going on in that bottle.
"From a pressure cooker in Alentejo to a very pretty bottle of gin"
Show me a bottle and
I'll tell you a story.