Ageing a gin in apple barrels rather than in the usual ex-whisky or ex-wine wood is an unusual decision, and it is the one that shapes this bottle. The spirit starts from juniper and a wider botanical set with apples worked into the recipe, then spends time in that wood at 40% ABV, picking up a woody character that runs alongside the fruit instead of covering it. Barrel ageing usually pushes a gin toward the spirit cabinet; here it stays closer to the orchard.

Apple is present at both ends of the drink and behaves differently at each. On the nose it is crisp and juicy, recognisably fresh fruit rather than cider or compote, and it sits over the piney line of the juniper without hiding it. Through the middle the wood takes over, dry and gently tannic, adding the weight that separates a barrel-aged gin from a standard one. Then the fruit returns at the finish, sweeter in impression than in taste, with the wood holding underneath it. The texture is smooth and rounded, the ageing having taken the sharper edges off without softening the gin into something shapeless.

Wood and fruit together make this more interesting neat than most flavoured gins. Try it first at room temperature or over a single large cube, where the barrel character is clearest. In a long drink, a plain tonic is right and a slice of fresh apple keeps faith with the recipe, though a twist of lemon does more to lift the aromatics. Barrel-aged gins are often pushed into cocktails built for whisky, and this one is better off staying simple. Avoid sweet mixers, which push the whole thing toward dessert. Barrel-aged gin is a category that often loses the gin along the way; the juniper here survives the wood, which is the achievement. It closes woody and fruity at once, the apple fading a little before the oak.