No fixed maturation period governs this gin. The distiller tastes the barrels regularly and takes the spirit out when the balance between botanical character and oak has arrived, which is a slower way to work than a calendar and the only sensible way to treat a base this aromatic. Full Circle Craft Distillers make it in Calamba, Laguna, at 45%.

Citrus · Woody · Spicy · Floral · Vanilla

What goes into the wood is ARC Botanical Gin, the house flagship, built from twenty-eight botanicals of which twenty-two are sourced or foraged in the Philippines. Pomelo, calamansi, dayap lime and dalandan orange carry the citrus, a wider range than any European recipe has access to. Mango brings tropical fruit, Benguet pine a resinous green note, and sampaguita, ylang-ylang and kamia supply three separate floral registers. Classic gin ingredients hold the frame beneath all of it.

The barrels are new 225-litre American oak with a medium-long toast, described by the distillery as Burgundy style and coopered in Napa Valley. A 100% wheat neutral base underneath contributes a rounded texture and a discreet natural sweetness. What the oak adds is vanilla bean, caramel, dark chocolate, toasted almond, roasted nuts, crème brûlée, hazelnut and toasted marshmallow, sitting beside the citrus and the floral structure instead of covering either.

The nose combines citrus, cinnamon and cardamom with a lightly peppery impression, juniper and green herbs, and vanilla and butterscotch from the wood.

The palate runs rich and layered, and the finish long and warming on pomelo, toasted caramel, cinnamon and sweet spice. Gold in 2019 at the World Gin Awards, Platinum and Best of Category at ASCOT in 2021, Double Gold at SIP the same year, and a Master at the Asian Spirits Masters in 2023. Undiluted, or on one large cube.