Three months in oak is a short maturation, and choosing to stop there is the decision that defines this bottle. Smooth Ambler works in West Virginia, and the aim is clearly not to turn a gin into a whiskey: the wood is there to add a layer, not to take the recipe over. Bottled at 40%.

Twelve weeks is long enough to change a gin and short enough to leave it recognisable, which is a narrower target than it sounds. What the barrel gives in that time is mostly sugar and softness. The aroma opens on burnt sugar and caramel, which is unusual as a first impression for any gin and immediately signals what has been done to it. Behind that sit spruce and orange, the two botanical notes that survive the cask most clearly, one resinous and green, the other bright and sweet. On the palate the movement is gradual rather than sudden: juniper warmth builds through the middle, the oak richness rises to meet it, and the two arrive together at a finish that is peppery and sweet at once. Because the wood has had so little time, the spirit underneath is still recognisably a gin, and the spruce in particular keeps a green line running that a longer maturation would have buried under vanilla.

Versatility is the practical benefit of stopping early. It works neat, it works over ice, and it takes to stirred cocktails without argument: an Old Fashioned is the obvious choice and a barrel-aged Negroni the more interesting one. Long drinks are the weak option here, since carbonation thins the caramel. If you do reach for tonic, keep it unflavoured and use orange peel, which repeats the recipe. Restraint in a barrel programme is rarer than length, and the point of stopping early is that the recipe survives the cask. It closes sweet, spiced and woody.