Smeaton’s Gin: free delivery on an exceptional gin for Mothering Sunday

8 Mar 2021

London, Plymouth... Bristol?

You've heard of London Dry Gin and Plymouth Gin, but Bristol? The story of Smeaton's Gin begins with an obscure reference from 1869, spotted in the Bristol Archives, on Smeaton Road. The difference between Liverpool and Bristol gin, or between that prepared at Bristol and Plymouth, is as remarkable as the difference between Dublin and London Stout, or Scotch and Irish malt whiskey. An intrigued, obsessive wine importer spent laborious months piecing together clues to the recipe and method for Bristol Gin. Nor was he prepared to stop there. It took ten years, but Bristol Gin has returned to the world.

It's not just the botanical blend (juniper, coriander, orange, cinnamon, orris, liquorice, calamus, angelica) that makes Smeaton's unique; it's all about the Bristol Method. Almost all modern gin making involves using dried botanicals distilled together. The Bristol method is quite frankly a bit more of a faff, depending on separate distillation of each and every botanical, with blending further down the line. But there are two huge advantages to doing things this way. For one thing, the distiller can catch each botanical when it is at its freshest, not dried or out of season. For another, in distillation the spirit at the start and end of each distillation is discarded; this is the cut for heads and the cut for tails, removing that part of the distillation where the least appetising compounds lurk. But the optimum cut for each botanical will fall slightly differently; separate distillations allow ideal cuts for each and every one.

We've been stocking Smeaton's since its launch three years ago. It's always been striking that when a customer comes to the shop looking for a gin, and we waft a few open bottles near their noses, that's a surefire Smeaton's sale - the aromatics are so defined and so vivid. Mothering Sunday is almost upon us. Is there a mother you'd like to treat? Your own long-suffering mater? A home-school survivor? Between today and Mothering Sunday we are offering free delivery on even single bottle deliveries of this finest of gins. /NT

Offered subject to confirmation; available now online

Vintage Description Cs Sz Bt Sz Cs Bts Cs ib Cs inc Bt inc
N.V. ready Smeaton`s Bristol Method Dry Gin 45%
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6x 70cl 5 3 - £288.00 £53.50 Buy