Gemblue Gin

Two kilograms of glass under a tin label is a great deal of packaging for a 40% gin, and the weight is a deliberate salute to Gembloux, the Belgian town where every bottle is filled, labelled and packed by hand. Wave Distil puts juniper, lime zest and cucumber inside it and runs the spirit through the still twice. A recipe that short gives a weak ingredient nowhere to hide.

Citrus · Herbal

Double distillation is what makes so brief a list workable. Running the spirit through twice strips out the heavier material that a longer botanical list would normally mask, so what remains is clean to an unusual degree. Juniper holds the centre with a straightforward green pine that never turns bitter. Lime zest sits above it, and zest rather than juice matters here, since the oil in the peel is aromatic and sharp where the juice would only be sour. Cucumber takes the third role, and its contribution is textural: it brings a cool, watery quality that registers in the mouth as much as in the nose, and it rounds off the lime before that citrus can become severe. What comes out is balanced and notably refreshing, with a finish that stays short and clean rather than lingering.

Freshness that comes from cucumber disappears the moment anything sweet arrives, so the build has to be disciplined. Tonic without flavouring, ice up to the brim, and nothing further. A ribbon of cucumber cut lengthways is the garnish the recipe asks for, and a wedge of lime works instead when you would rather sharpen the citrus than double the vegetable. The heavy 2 kg bottle with its tin label is a nod to the town it comes from, and the 2021 silver in London suggests the liquid was noticed too. A gin that names a vegetable among only three ingredients is committing to it entirely. It ends crisp, citric and cool.