Four Oceans Dry Gin

Four oceans in the name, and the botanical list crosses most of them. Brazilian tonka bean, Peruvian Inca berries and a selection of exotic peppers came out of several years of research into spices from different parts of the world, and Distillerie Le Compas assembled them on a French London DryLondon DryA style, not a place of origin: every flavour comes from distilling natural botanicals. After distillation only water and a trace of sugar may be added, with no flavouring or colouring.GlossarySee London Dry gins frame at 40%.

Citrus · Spicy · Floral · Herbal

The frame is the conventional half and it is doing real work. Juniper and coriander form the classical backbone, and without it the rest would read as a spice cabinet rather than as a gin. Grapefruit peel adds brightness, a clean citrus lift laid over the top. The peppers then bring warmth and what is best described as aromatic tension: not heat exactly, but a prickle and a sharpness that keeps the palate alert through the middle.

The end is where the recipe turns unexpected. Tonka bean is intensely aromatic, somewhere between vanilla, almond and hay, and it pushes the finish toward the floral and the rounded. Inca berries, the small orange physalis of the Andes, add a gentle depth beside it. Neither introduces the sweetness that would put a London Dry outside its category, which is the constraint the whole arrangement had to respect.

The nose opens on clear juniper and coriander, then citrus zest and peppery spice.

The palate is structured and robust, building spice gradually, and the finish is persistent and floral with the tonka and the berries trailing. On the rocks, or with a classic tonic, which is what the distillery recommends. Sourcing spices across four continents is a supply chain rather than a story, and the several years of research are the part of the label that actually cost something. A gin can carry that much travel only if the juniper underneath refuses to move.