Tobacco is not a food ingredient and almost nobody puts it in a drink. A natural tobacco plant extract sits on this list anyway, and what it contributes is the faint smokiness and dry leafy depth that gives the Black Edition the darker register its name promises. Sir Chill makes it in Belgium at 43%, in a matte black bottle.

Three sweeter elements are arranged against that one dark note. Vanilla is the most obvious, laying a creamy warmth through the middle that reads almost as pastry. Almond works beside it, drier and marzipan-adjacent, adding a nutty weight that vanilla alone would not supply. Mandarin does the lifting: sweeter and more scented than an orange, it brings a citrus roundness rather than a sharp edge, which suits a recipe built on indulgence rather than on cutting through it. Then the tobacco arrives underneath everything, lightly smoky and woody, and it is what stops the sweetness from turning into confectionery. Juniper holds the structure that keeps the category honest. Full and structured on the palate, with the citrus and the pastry notes merging into the woody base rather than sitting above it.

Sweetness this deliberate needs a mixer that does not add more. A neutral or barely sweetened tonic preserves the aromatic definition; anything sugared collapses the balance immediately. Ice properly and pour generously. The producer suggests cedar wood or a toasted almond as garnish, both of which follow the darker half rather than the fruit, and both work better than a citrus wheel would. A gin that smells of a cigar box and tastes of pastry is a strange combination held together by one leaf. It should not work as well as it does. It ends smoky, sweet-spiced and woody.