It’s name is White Gin. Macaronesian White Gin. And we’re a match made in heaven.
But before we get to drink, it’s time for some geographical ground work:
Macaronesia is a collection of four archipelagos in the North Atlantic Ocean. Vulcanic in origin, they are unique in their climate and vegetation. We gonna zoom in into one of those archipelagos – The Canary Islands – and further in into Tenerife and even further in into San Miguel de Abona where we find the Destileria Santa Cruz the Tenerife.
Here, the liquid represantation of Mediterranean savoir-vivre is created. Macaronesian White Gin. Bottled up in a white fired clay bottle, even the visual design stands out:
The Gin is destilled with water which has been filtered drop by drop through local volcanic rocks which makes it super pure and high quality. The botanicals used are – according to the destillery’s website – cedar, cardamom, lime, lemon, orange, angelica root and other “top quality plants”. Whatever they are – never change that recipe, dude.
Now when you unseal and open that bottle, a very light and low key odour escapes; with hints of mint and citrus fruits and without the nauseating, repulsive smell of strong alcohol that other 40% spirits often share.
Now close your eyes (or rather read first, then close your eyes and do what I tell you to do now so you can actually follow my imaginary gin tasting) and imagine yourself standing on the pier of Las Salinas (s. here). The late afternoon sun touches and warms you face and a fresh sea breeze cools you down and makes you wish, this moment might last forever. And that is what Macaronesian Gin smells like.
The taste ist similar. Very light and subtle. Some might call it ‘shallow’ but I personally prefer this pure, explicit taste to rich and complex compositions of too many flavours. Here, citrus fruits are the dominating flavour, accompanied by a hint of mint and an even subtler hint of cedar, followed by a final impression of orange spiked with a with a whiff of cinnamon.
To make a long story short: a Gin Tonic made from this is Mediterranean Summer caught in a glass and best enjoyed on the rocks (as in on ice and also whilst sitting on the vulcaniv rocks of Las Salinas), with Fever Tree’s Mediterranean Tonic Water or Thomas Henry Tonic Water and a garnish of lemon (okay), orange (pretty good) or grapefruit (amazing!).
Salud!
For more information, visit their website
http://www.macaronesiangin.com/
