Amo.te Dry Gin

Wild juniper growing at up to 1,700 metres in the Serra da Estrela is the claim this Portuguese gin is built on, and Amo.te states it is the first gin anywhere to use it. Altitude changes a juniper berry, and the one here reads more floral and less bluntly resinousResinousAn aroma reminiscent of pine or fir resin. It is juniper's signature, due to compounds such as pinene.Glossary than the cultivated kind. Around it the recipe places roses, coriander, orange blossom and pennyroyal, and the finished gin carries 40% ABV.

Citrus · Floral · Herbal

The floral side arrives first and is unusually well behaved. Rose is present without the soapiness that rose so often brings to a gin, and orange blossom sits beside it with a sweeter, more honeyed weight, the two together giving the aroma its lift. The mountain juniper runs underneath, green and clearly gin-shaped but softer at the edges than a standard berry would be, and that softness is what lets the flowers sit so comfortably on top. Pennyroyal is the corrective: a mint-family herb, cool and slightly sharp, it cuts through the floral register and keeps the palate from turning sweet. Coriander links the citrus lift to the herbal base. The finish is fresh, elegant and dry.

Delicacy on this scale is easy to destroy, so the mixer should be neutral and the pour unhurried. Fill the glass with ice and pour the tonic slowly, since heavy carbonation strips the floral notes out first. Orange peel picks up the orange blossom directly and makes the better finish; rose petals may look right on top but contribute nothing the gin does not already contain. Wild juniper from that altitude is the whole premise of the bottle, and a heavy garnish is the quickest way to lose it. There is an unusually aromatic MartiniDry MartiniGin and a little dry vermouth, stirred over ice and served in a well-chilled stemmed glass, with an olive or a twist.Glossary here too, if you want the flowers pushed to the front. It ends floral and cool at once, the pennyroyal lasting after the rose.