Hendrick's Gin - 70cl

Hendrick's Gin is unique in that it combines two gins distilled separately by two completely different methods and with totally different flavours, which, before the addition of the cucumber and roses, have little personality. But together they become much more than the sum of their parts: one is intense, oily, juniper-like; the other is light, sweet and floral, but lacks deep notes; yet, when combined they produce a full spectrum of flavours.In 2003, the Wall Street Journal named it the best gin in the world. Many stories circulate about its birth, but the truth is that the producer noticed a gap in the market and therefore released this premium gin in 1999, inspired by the habit of eating cucumber sandwiches in English gardens. The brand is managed by an American agency, but with the aim of focusing on a unique and unusual 'Englishness'. The Victorian-era apothecary-style bottle bears the date 1886, but this does not refer to the gin, but to the year of the founding of the William Grant distillery.The distillation takes place in Scotland, in Ayrshire, and the master distiller Lesley Gracie is, unusually in this industry, a woman. Hendrick's Gin is the result of a combination of two gins. One produced in a Carter-Head still, the other in a small still built in 1860 by the brewery Bennett, Sons & Shears. These are two very different distillation methods that produce very different gins. The 2 botanicals are macerated for about 24 hours before going into the Bennett still. Simply put, they are boiled and put directly into the spirit so as to infuse it with most of its aromatic characteristics. All the botanicals used in the Carter-Head are added to a basket at the top of the still. They are neither macerated nor boiled, but are steamed in order to extract only the lightest, sweetest and most floral aromas. Both distillations take 12 hours. Once the two spirits are combined, cucumber and rose essence are added before water is added and bottled.