Med Gin

Med Gin is a New Western Dry GinContemporary ginAlso called New Western: juniper is still there, but other botanicals (citrus, flowers, spice) take the lead.GlossarySee Contemporary gin gins from Never Never Distilling Co., bottled at 41% ABV. Med Gin comes from Never Never's McLaren Vale home and draws on Kalamata olive brine, Somerton almonds, lemon thyme, thyme, bay leaf, basil and locally foragedForagingPlants gathered by hand in the wild (woods, heath, coastline) rather than grown or bought in.Glossary coastal daisy bush.

Spicy · Floral · Herbal · Earthy

The palate brings creamy marzipan, citrus and olive oils, followed by olive-brine salinity and herbs. Its finish carries resinousResinousAn aroma reminiscent of pine or fir resin. It is juniper's signature, due to compounds such as pinene.Glossary juniper oils and late pepper berry.

Juniper supplies the backbone and the Mediterranean supplies the rest. Kalamata olive brine brings salt and an oily roundness most gins have no equivalent for, while Somerton almond adds the marzipan weight that fills the middle. Thyme, lemon thyme and basil draw the herbal line, bay leaf lays a dry, faintly camphorous note underneath, and the foraged coastal daisy bush extends all of it with a salted green edge. Almond and olive are an old Mediterranean pairing that gin rarely attempts, because both are fatty rather than aromatic and neither survives a careless still.

The result behaves like a savoury gin rather than a fresh one. Clear iceClear iceIce without air bubbles, made by slow, directional freezing. Denser, it melts more slowly and dilutes less.Glossary and measured dilutionDilutionThe water added by melting ice. In the right amount it opens the aromas and softens the alcohol; too much flattens the drink.Glossary hold it together; a clean tonic and a strip of lemon peel keep the herbs legible, while anything sweetened flattens the brine first. It is most convincing in a martini, where the olive is already in the bottle, and a dirty martini needs almost none added. Neat, it sits closer to a savoury aperitif than to a London Dry, and it rewards a cold glass more than a large one. Basil and lemon thyme are the first things to fade as the drink warms, which is the practical argument for keeping it short. Olive brine also explains why it thickens a martini slightly: there is real texture in the bottle, not only flavour.