Twenty-four botanicals, each distilled separately before assembly, is a slow way to make gin and the reason this one tastes so clearly separated. Forest Dry Gin Summer comes from Belgium, created by sommelier Jurgen Lijcops and distilled on an organic farm near Antwerp, and the seasonal edition points the recipe toward blood orange and bergamot blossom with ginger underneath. It is bottled at 45% ABV, which gives the fruit room to project.

Blood orange leads and brings its particular quality of pith as much as juice, so the citrus reads bitter-edged rather than sweet. Bergamot blossom is the more unusual half of the pair: floral and citric at once, perfumed in a way the fruit alone could not manage, and it sits above the orange rather than beside it. Ginger arrives late and warm, a gentle heat that lengthens the finish and stops the aromatics floating away. Distilling each botanical on its own shows in how distinct the layers remain, none of them blurring into a general impression, and the higher strength holds that definition together.

Given the care taken to keep everything separate, a plain tonic is the only mixer worth using. Pour it over a generously iced glass so the strength stretches, and choose one garnish rather than several: a broad ribbon of orange peel is the obvious choice, while a thin slice of fresh ginger pushes the drink warmer for anyone who wants that. Nothing floral needs adding, since the bergamot blossom already occupies that space. Twenty-four separate distillations is a great deal of work to undo with a careless mixer, which is the strongest argument for keeping the build plain. The finish is bright, faintly bitter and gently warm, the ginger holding on after the citrus.