Medronho is the fruit of the strawberry tree. It grows wild across the Algarve and the Baixo Alentejo, and it had a long history in Portuguese distilling well before anyone thought to put it into a gin. Arbun builds this dry gin around it in small batches at 43% ABV, setting the fruit against juniper, coriander seeds, lemon verbena, cardamom, angelica root, orris root and fennel.

The medronho is what you notice first, and it tastes like no orchard fruit at all. There is a soft, slightly waxy sweetness to it, closer to a ripe berry than to an apple or a pear, with an earthy edge underneath that keeps it from reading as sugary. Lemon verbena works directly above it, sharp and green and lemony, and the contrast between that bright herb and the rounded fruit is the axis the entire recipe turns on. Cardamom and fennel supply the aromatic middle, the fennel adding a faint aniseed note that suits this fruit far better than a warmer spice would have. Juniper stays clear and dry throughout, while angelica and orris hold the base in place beneath the fruit. The palate is smooth and aromatic, closing considerably drier than the fruit alone would suggest.

Small-batch distillation shows in how defined the individual botanicals stay, so the serve should not blur them. Plain tonic, a glass filled to the top with ice, and lemon peel to pick up the verbena: that is all it needs. Avoid fruit garnishes, which push the medronho toward sweetness it does not actually have. It is also worth tasting neat and lightly chilled, where the fruit shows most plainly and the fennel is easiest to follow. Using a local wild fruit rather than an imported one is what gives the bottle its accent. It ends aromatic, fruity and dry.