Gin is something I have always been rather fond of. Not I’m happy to report in any needy way but from quite a young age it has always been my social drink of choice. Over the years I have tried many different brands, but Gordon’s London Dry Gin has always been my first love. My second choice would be Bombay Sapphire which is a really very superior gin, distilled from 100% grain and a good old 1761 recipe . I have over the years imbibed some rather odd gins ! drunk in some far flung places, when on occasions a dusty bottle with a dodgy looking label and of some throat burning liquor would appear from under the counter. Still I have always come back to my friend the very special Gordon’s. There is nothing for me quite like the clean crisp tang of juniper berries with the bitter taste of quinine from a good tonic with a slice of lime. I always prefer the bottle of gin and the tonic chilled rather than the glass filled with clinking ice yes, it has always my drink of choice. During the past year or two I have been very lucky to have received as presents some rather interesting and different gins to sample. Firstly Tanqueray which is 43.1% proof and is a real ‘hit you in the eye drink’, and I must confess rather good. Next came Pink47 at 47%, a nice clean London Dry Gin and I might add, comes in a very pretty scent shaped bottle looking like it should be on the dressing table rather the bar, but a delicious tasting gin never-the- less . THEN ! we come to HENDRICK’S at 41.4% ,this is a simply wonderfully tasting Gin! made (their words) “with a free and imaginative spirit” , it is distilled and bottled in Scotland. Could this wonderful Gin find it’s way into my heart knocking Gordon’s to second place after all these years? As they say ” It is not for everybody” that “it is a gin made oddly”. Well it uses coriander and citrus peel infused with juniper and rose petal and would you believe a hint of cucumber! I laughed when reading the label, preferred by1 out of 1000, which as they say “is fine by us, not easy making this stuff ” but this super gin quite took my breath away. It’s true, this fact that no other gin tastes quite like Hendrick’s, and this truth only enhances the experience but it truly does, it’s good, it’s really good! Try drinking with tonic and a slice of cucumber – simply divine. Now I ask myself, after all these years, could my long term love affair with Gordon’s be in jeopardy or even dare I say over?
