Bartenders kept this recipe alive. The 1997 release acquired a following that outlasted the bottle itself, and Tanqueray went back to Charles Tanqueray's archives to reissue it in 2013, which is a rarer sequence than the drinks trade admits: usually a discontinued product simply stays discontinued. Bottled at 41.3% and named after the Straits of Malacca, the old spice route through Southeast Asia.

The spice route explains the botanical list. Peppercorns, cloves and cardamom are trade goods rather than gin ingredients, and setting them beside juniper, coriander and angelica root moves the whole thing away from the London Dry template it otherwise resembles. Rose petals are the other departure, and they are what make the aroma floral where a classic recipe would be purely green. Grapefruit zest opens the nose, the rose sits behind it, and a mild peppery warmth runs underneath both. On the palate the texture stays dry, and that dryness is what keeps this a gin rather than a liqueur: juniper is still clearly present, supported by cloves, grains of paradise and citrus peel rather than buried by them. The finish is mildly spicy with a floral trace that lingers.

Spice and flower together suit a considered glass. A long drink with a lemon twist and a scattering of pink peppercorns is the producer's suggestion and it follows the recipe on both sides. A Martinez is the more interesting route, where the sweeter vermouth meets the rose and the cloves directly. Keep any tonic neutral. A gin brought back by demand rather than by marketing is worth the attention. Most reissues are anniversaries pinned to a date; this one answered people who would not stop asking for it. It closes floral, spiced and dry.