GIN & RASPBERRY

Last year I did a whistle-stop world tour and also stopped by my bottle of The Source Gin.  I can't top the story I told then, so forgive me for telling it again!  Follow me to the foothills of the Southern Alps on the South Island of New Zealand.

In the 1800s, Cardrona was the centre of the region's gold mining industry.  Today it's a popular winter sport destination, but in the summer the visitors favour hiking and mountain biking.  A popular spot with a bit of apre-ski in winter is the historic Cardrona Hotel, but we need to step back to the history of the town and the 1860s gold rush, for the inspiration for today's cocktail and the name given to one of the richest mines in the Cardrona Valley. It was the owner's custom to shout "gin & raspberry" whenever a bucket of pay-dirt yielded an ounce of gold and thus the mine was so-called. This story is best told by Martin Curtis, a singer-songwriter, who I believe still lives in the valley.  There is a recording of his song (Gin & Raspberry) on YouTube - do listen to it, as it's a lovely tune and really sets the mood for this cocktail and gives a bit of background about the location.

One of New Zealand's fastest growing super premium distilleries is also situated in Cardrona Valley and is founded by a husband and wife duo, Desiree and Ash Whitaker. I understand they know Martin too, so there is a link to my story!  Desiree has had a lifelong romance with whisky and after many years of study, research and planning, they founded the distillery in 2015 to make Single Malt Whisky, Gin, Single Malt Vodka and limited edition liqueurs. Not only have they sourced the very best equipment from all over the world, but they also use as many locally sourced ingredients as they can, as this gives their drinks a very unique flavour profile.

The Source Gin includes locally foraged rosehip, juniper, coriander seed, angelica root, lemon and orange zest and is vapour distilled into their single malt spirit. They don't chill-filter, so you get that lovely louche when you add ice and tonic.  It's not the cheapest of gins, but it's a real treat and I'm so happy it's part of my collection.

I've one last little titbit and no, it's not a pun!  You may or may not have heard about the Cardrona Bra Fence that became a controversial tourist attraction.  It started somewhere around 1998, with passers-by attaching bras to a section of fence alongside a public road near the Cardrona Distillery.  There were several unsuccessful attempts at removing it but when it was discovered that it was on a public road reserve, the local council ordered it to be removed.  However, BraDrona remains and now repositioned on private land, is a proud supporter of the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation.

The cocktail - well of course it's a pair of Clover Club - what else would suit the story better!

WILD APOSTLES

We are sticking around the Southern Alps of New Zealand today.  This mountain range is actually quite important, as it runs the length of the South Island and acts as a barrier, forcing the winds coming from the west upwards and causing rainfall.  This rain trickles through the sedimentary rock, gathering in natural aquifers on the island.  The pure, filtered groundwater makes up around 40% of the water consumed in NZ.  At their distillery in the foothills of the mountains just outside Christchurch, the Rogue Society Distilling Co. use this pure water, sourced from an aquifer in Canterbury, to distill and cut their spirits.

The botanicals they use come from all over the world - Nutmeg from the Spice Island of Grenada;  Italian Juniper; Guatemalan Cardamom; Spanish Citrus... the list goes on.  The recipe for their Premium Gin is classic and as the title of this post suggests, they use 12 botanicals for it.  Their bottle is another nod to classic, being a take on the original Genever bottle. They also have two other gin expressions - Scapegrace Black (a natural black gin which changes to purple when adding tonic) and Gold (their navy strength with citrus and tangerine) - and a vodka. 

Rogue Society Gin was launched in 2014 by 3 friends - Mark, Richard and Daniel - who decided they also wanted to join the gin boom.  As they gained traction internationally, they picked up a string of awards, but they found themselves in a bit of a trademark war with US brewery, Rogue Ales - which was originally set up by 3 Nike executives.  They had also had a similar dispute in Australia with Regal Rogue and so, rather than a legal wrangle resulting in having their asses kicked by men in suits wearing sneakers, they did the honourable thing and rebranded. 

This allowed them to market locally and internationally under a single brand, which made so much more sense.  In 2018 they settled on a slightly classier name - Scapegrace - an 18th century synonym for rogue or renegade.  Their rebranding ad campaign was hugely successful too, with the brand aligning themselves with famous people who also changed their names and are recognised through iconography.  Key to this was their classic and iconic bottle.  This needed only a subtle change to the medallion and being the free-spirited rebels they are, they ensured that the company name, Rogue Society, remained embossed on the sides of the bottle!

Are they rebels and pushing the boundaries as their name suggests?  Some may argue they aren't trying hard enough, but I was really interested to read that they also had a little dabble with a limited edition gin "distilled to the vibrations of music"!  Logic suggests this will make not a juniper berry of difference to the taste, but I do have another in my collection who stand by the fact that music is an extra botanical - If you don't remember it from my European Virtual Tour, it's Neighbours 11 Gin from Ginbow in Portugal!  

KAWA WHAT?

Reid + Reid are, as the name suggests, brothers who joined the craft gin revolution in 2015 with a view to promoting the unique flora found in their country.  We have all heard of and probably have a pot of honey in the cupboard claiming to be Manuka, but kawakawa and horopito?  Unless you're from that neck of the woods, you have probably never heard of them, but these chaps have cleverly used them as botanicals in their gin.

Horopito is a small tree with leaves that have a powerful punch, giving it the more common name of Peppertree.  It has a long list of traditional medicinal uses, as has Kawakawa, another versatile herb endemic to New Zealand, with both its aromatic leaves and berries being edible.  These local botanicals, which bring savoury, spicy and floral characters to the gin, are foraged by Chris and Stew and carefully blended with other traditional gin botanicals.  They use a whey base spirit - which is an upcycled byproduct of the dairy industry. 

They have recently built a new distillery and tasting room on Chris's vineyard in Martinborough in South Wairarapa, and also have an outdoors G&T bar. It's a stunning setting and I do urge you all to check out their page to see their latest photos.

They have several gin expressions - Native, Barrel Aged and Rev. Dawson.  Reverend Dawson was the brothers' great, great grandfather and he was one of New Zealand's leading prohibitionists!  They also produce an Aperitivo, Martinborough Cup (like Pimms) and vermouth.  Unfortunately they aren't all available in the UK, but I did manage to get hold of a bottle of their barrel aged gin, which is aged for three months in ex pinot noir French oak barrels.

If you ever want to know anything about Kiwi gin, then Claire @highjinx is your gal!  She had me opening this bottle before my morning coffee was fully ingested.  She on the other hand was already enjoying sundowners!  It's really a stunning gin and those native botanicals really play a big part in the aroma and flavours!  It's got a spicy kick, but also a mellow sweet, fruity finish.  After a lengthy discussion about the perfect serve, we concluded that we needed to honour both our heritages and use my Capertif to make a spicy negroni with it.  So here we have a Spicy Negroni, using botanicals from the Fairest Cape and Wairarapa New Zealand.

50ml Barrel Aged gin

50ml Capertif Cape Vermouth

50ml Campari

Garnished with a spicy red chilli!

MOONSHINE MAGIC

I don't think this gin needs much introduction as it already has so many fans and supporters!  So for today, it's an honorary Kiwi post, as I cannot leave New Zealand without mentioning The Boutique Distillery!

Jonny hails from the North Island, where he learned all about the art of distillation from a local moonshiner, but he is now based in the Cotswolds UK.  I'm one of the privileged few who have been invited to visit to his secret lair, where since 2018, he has been conjuring up some amazing gin, and more recently, Haka Rum!  Not only is he skilled in making fabulous spirits, but he has also built his own still, which he fondly calls Ginavive.  

The lineup of botanicals includes a few botanicals from New Zealand, which he has managed to grow locally and he uses spring water from the Malvern Hills - which he selected due to its similarities to the snow melt he would have used in New Zealand.  Jonny's gin is bold and distinctive and truly small batch, with each distillation producing only 80-100 bottles.  The entire process is all by hand - I've witnessed it myself, having had to don a very glamorous white coat and hair net in order to be allowed into the distillery!  I was even allowed to wash, fill, cork, label, number and wax my own bottle!  The process is a true labour of love and Jonny doesn't mess about - he's straight to the point and he's passionate about what he does.  

My favourite serve is a G&T, with grapefruit and rosemary garnish and with that in mind, I thought I would see how a breakfast martini using grapefruit marmalade turned out - delicious!