SW4 Champion Strength - Gin of Champions @ 47%

Yesterday saw Mr Hartley and me heading over to Graphic Bar to enjoy the joint first birthday of the Juniper Society and SummerFruitCup. The celebrations were fueled by SW4 Gin (check out their new website here) and Sip or Mix. SW4 was the first gin to sponsor the Juniper Society a year ago and has since become part of the family, not just at the Juniper Society, but here, over at the IAE.

There were various party games and one of these was a lucky dip; I was lucky enough to pick up  a bottle of the rare 47%ABV SW4. This had a very limited production run (just 15 bottles); one of these was siphoned down into miniatures, so there are just 14 left. My understanding is that the majority of these will be sold to a lucky few and each will be signed by Martin Price (Mr SW4) himself. It's the same botanical mix as SW4, but is bottled at 47%ABV rather than the usual 40%ABV.

THE TASTE

Own
Very soft and smooth, especially for 47%; juniper and citrus come across first, followed by some spice. When compared to the 47%, the 40% seems a lot more earthy and rooty. The 47% seems to have a stronger flavour profile and a great warming (but not burning) effect on my throat.

Gin & Tonic
Initial thoughts: juniper, light spice and fresh. Strength in both the juniper and citrus and you can tell this is a stronger gin & tonic, but, like Plymouth Navy Strength, the strength does not ruin the drink.** As the ice melts a little, the flavours open up and I'm now getting some angelica, too, and a touch of anise at the end. Tasty, with a long finish.

Martini (5:1) with Dolin Dry
Exceptionally clean and crisp, and very easy to drink. Works really well with Dolin vermouth and there are juniper, citrus and floral/perfume notes, although none of these are overpowering. The main feature, though, is how clear and clean it is; it would be difficult to tell it was 47%. Superb.

I'm fond of both the 40% and the 47% SW4, but I think that, generally, the 40% is more versatile for cocktail making and the 47% is better to be drunk on the rocks or in a Martini. The Martini it made was exceptional. I'm glad I got a chance to try 47% SW4.

* For more detail contact Jenny at hello@sipormix.com
** Some gins can pull the strength off, and some can't. I've had some gins that tasted like they were 50% and they were only 40% or 37.5% - the alcohol was that rough.

Gin Bombe—with a Liquid Gin Centre

The Institute for Alcoholic Experimentation proudly presents....

The SW4 Bombe

The Gin Bombe is essentially a tonic ice ball with a liquid gin centre. So how do you make such a... drink?

First you need some ice ball moulds (we got ours from G'Vine). You then carefully fill these with tonic water. When I did this I noticed that the fizz of the tonic meant that, when it froze, the inside of the ice ball was hollow. This got me thinking...

I bored a hole in the ice ball with a cork screw and then covered the rest of the ball in a thin layer of water. I returned it to the freezer to let it ice up (so that it could hold gin).

After a little while I then poured some SW4 from the refrigerator (gin at room temperature the ball would melt too quickly, from the freezer too slowly) into the bore-hole.

This is best drunk with a straw but it is interesting that as the drink warms up the flavours change and your straight gin becomes more and more like a gin & tonic. Presenting someone with a glass of the below should create some confusion and amusement.

Lab Update #4—Apple Gin Recipe

Lab Update #4—Home-made Apple Gin Recipe

Whilst investigating potential ingredients for an upcoming article "Raiders of the Lost Cocktail Cabinet" I came across a long-lost ingredient, apple gin. Made in the UK this was sweetened apple-infused gin, though sadly it has been unavailable for a long time.

A form of apple gin is available in the USA, made by Seagram's (the second biggest gin producer in the world). It's part of their "twisted" range and, along with their Purple Grape variety, it sadly isn't up to much. It certainly doesn't match the above description. So in the spirit of The Institute I decided to make my own.

Recipes for apple gin or apple vodka are a bit thin on the ground—many of them also contain pears, so not much luck there. One useful tidbit I did find was that red apples were consistently recommended for the best results.

The apples were peeled and cored and then added to some gin (I used Tesco's Distiller's Reserve—perfectly good in its own right, of course) I added a little lemon to bring out the flavour. I didn't sweeten it at this point as I wanted to see how the flavour would turn out first.

It took about two weeks to get a decent amount of flavour out of the apples, I then sweetened it with some sugar syrup, at about one part syrup to four parts gin.

The result: a light straw-coloured liquid smelling of cut apples, a little vanilla and a slightly bitter note. A good amount of the gin comes through with apple in the middle and towards the and. The finish is juniper. One thing that is clear is that this is certainly apple gin, my only criticism being that I should probably have added a little more sugar.*

I then tried it in a cocktail:

Coronation:

3/6 Apple Gin

1/6 Orgeat (Almond) Syrup

1/6 Lemon Juice

1/6 Kirsch

This was pretty tasty and lack of sweetness in the apple gin was compensated by the orgeat, the overall impression was apple marzipan, with the lemon juice and kirsch there to balance out the sweetness. Not a bad first cocktail to try this with.

* Adding a little sugar syrup to a glass does improve things.