BUSS N°509 Rebel Cut Gin

White pepper is black pepper with the husk removed, and the difference is not cosmetic. Losing the outer skin loses most of the rough heat and leaves a cleaner, more aromatic, faintly fermented spice behind, which is why it belongs in a floral recipe where black pepper would simply bully everything. Buss Spirits sets it against lavender and jasmine at 47%.

Citrus · Spicy · Floral

The floral half is the loudest and the pepper is what keeps it honest. Lavender is cool and aromatic, jasmine heady and sweet, and the two together would tip into perfume without something dry underneath them. White pepper does that job from below, and cinnamon works alongside it, adding a drier warmth that spreads across the centre. Then the citrus opens everything out: tangerine is the interesting choice, sweeter and more perfumed than orange, and it sits above fresh oranges and fresh lemons that supply roundness and sharpness respectively. Coriander joins fruit to spice through a warm, spiced seed. Liquorice draws the finish out on a sweetness never made from sugar, and juniper runs its green line beneath everything. At 47% every part of it holds its shape.

That strength lets the glass carry a real mixer. Neutral tonic, a glass loaded up, and a whole measure, the spirit having enough behind it to outlast dilutionDilutionThe water added by melting ice. In the right amount it opens the aromas and softens the alcohol; too much flattens the drink.Glossary. Tangerine or orange peel follows the citrus; a little lavender deepens the flower if that is what you are after. Nothing sweetened, which would push the jasmine into perfume immediately. Choosing the quieter pepper is the decision that lets the flowers speak. Three bottles from one house, and each one takes a different route out of the same still. Three bottles from one house, and each one takes a different route out of the same still, which is harder than releasing three variations on one idea. It ends floral, peppery and long.