Tasting Notes: Lind & Lime Gin (Ocean Dry & Colourful Cargo Subscriptions/January 2021)
Some of the contents of January’s cargo, as photographed by the amiable and visionary Nik Bryant. Check him out at https://www.nikbryantphotography.co.uk/.
Ahoy!
Happy New Year crew! I hope, despite the obvious circumstances, you all had a Christmas filled with laughter and excess!
This month I’ve taken a voyage north for the first Scottish gin we’ve featured in the Smugglers’ Club. The Port of Leith Distillery was set up a few years ago to produce outstanding Whisky. Since Whisky takes years to produce and age, they set out to make a gin in the meantime, and what a gin Lind & Lime is.
The gin’s name and flavour profile are inspired by two figures from Leith, separated by a century who, between them, not only contributed towards the saving of thousands of sea-faring lives but also became footnotes in the history of gin.
James Lind was an 18th century naval doctor who conducted the first controlled medical experiments into treating scurvy aboard the HMS Salisbury and in doing so started the movement for British ships to store limes aboard the Navy’s vessels. Lachlan Rose, by developing Rose’s Lime Juice (or Rose’s Lime Cordial as we know it now), gave the navy a method to preserve limes without having to store the fruit in rum. 18th century naval officers would take Rose’s juice with gin, creating one of the first gin-based cocktails- the Gimlet.
For more about this fascinating story, check out the history of the Gimlet elsewhere in the Captain’s Blog
That’s the history lesson done with, so let’s try the gin. The first thing you’ll have noticed is the beautiful wine bottle, a tribute to Leith’s bottle manufacturing history.
On the nose, Lind and Lime’s gentle aroma has pine and citrus notes. If you move the gin around your glass, take a moment to notice how the gin clings to the side of the glass. This is one of the first things professional gin tasters look for.
On the palate, the gin is juniper forward and the zesty lime really comes to the fore. This is a surprisingly complex gin considering it only contains seven botanicals.
The finish brings with it the taste of pink peppercorns alongside the lime.
When you add your mixer, you’ll notice the drink goes cloudy. This is called louching and is caused by the botanical oils being able to dissolve in alcohol but not when the mixer adds water to the drink.
I’ve included lime and pink peppercorns for garnish, and a selection of tonics to experiment with.
And with that, I shall leave you to enjoy your gin. For those of you with monthly subscriptions, we’ll talk next month when things get… romantic...
Your Loyal Captain