Portobello Road Gin’s new Director’s Cut No.2 Smokey Gin marks 350th anniversary of The Great Fire of London
Portobello Road Gin’s second Director’s Cut was distilled over the 2nd-5th of September, the exact days the Great Fire did its best to remodel the Capital.
Fittingly, the new release has a smoky flavour derived from peat-smoked juniper berries. Other botanicals include fiery chipotle and Chinese Lapsang Souchong black tea.
What they say:
“To achieve it’s intensely smoky flavour, the limited-edition craft gin is flavoured with juniper berries that were hand-smoked in peat dug by Portobello Road Gin founder Ged Feltham at his ancestral home of County Kerry, Ireland, this September. The peat was then taken to Portobello Road Gin’s master distiller Jake Burger at 171 Portobello Road and 1,000 bottles of the uniquely smoked gin were distilled in tiny twenty litre batches over the same four days that the Great Fire of London burned (2nd September-5th September).
A total of eleven botanicals have been selected for the limited-edition gin, including fiery chipotle, a hark to creator Ged’s love of Mexico and a hint of Chinese Lapsang Souchong black tea. The botanicals were distilled using Portobello Road Gin’s neutral grain spirit – only ever produced with English grain. A little drop of purified water to bring it down to it’s bottle strength of 42 percent is the only thing that is added.”
Notably, this will be the last blend to be crafted in their current 30L alembic copper still ‘Copernicus the Second’, as Portobello Road Gin prepares for their move to the finest address in gin ‘The Distillery’ – a modern-day four-storey gin palace in the heart of Portobello.
Director’s Cut No.02 The Smoky Gin will be available to purchase from November at: www.portobelloroadgin.com