Cin'Kin Gin Cherry

The cherry here is not a syrup stirred in at the end. Cin'Kin, in Ciney, builds this flavoured ginFlavoured ginGin with flavourings, often fruity, added after distillation. It may be coloured and lightly sweetened.GlossarySee Flavoured gin gins on a classic juniper base and triple distils it with cherries, so the fruit comes through the still with the spirit and arrives as aroma rather than as sugar. The result is a gin at 43% where the cherry is clearly present without overwhelming the balance.

Spicy · Fruity

Distilling fruit this way keeps its natural sweetness and drops the candied character that cherry flavourings tend to carry. What remains is a red fruit impression, fresh and rounded, set against the bitterness of juniperJuniperThe one compulsory botanical: gin must taste predominantly of juniper. Its "berry" is really a small conifer cone, resinous and peppery.Glossary and a light peppery spice. Triple distillationTriple distilledThe spirit goes through the still three times before or with the botanicals: each run cleans it up, giving a purer, softer base.Glossary also refines the spirit, which is why the alcohol feels well integrated even at this strength, and why the fruit reads as clean as it does. On paper the recipe is juniper and cherry, and the interest lies in how cleanly the two sit together.

On the nose, red fruit comes first, followed by juniper and a light spicy touch that hints at pepper.

The palate is dry in structure yet generous in flavour: the cherries bring a rounded, fruity dimension, juniper its bitterness, and a subtle warming spice runs underneath. The texture is smooth and the finish persistent, cherry returning with a gentle bitterness that invites another sip. Cin'Kin Gin Cherry has received several distinctions at the World Gin Awards over the years.

Thomas Henry Cherry Blossom Tonic stays in the same family without doubling the fruit, since blossom is floral where the gin is fruity. Garnish with a rosemary sprig briefly passed through a flame, whose resinousResinousAn aroma reminiscent of pine or fir resin. It is juniper's signature, due to compounds such as pinene.Glossary warmth keeps the drink from tipping into sweetness. The gin also works neat, over ice, or as the base of cocktails that put its cherry forward.