Thirty-eight per cent is half a point above the European minimum of 37.5% that a spirit has to reach before it may be called gin. That margin is the whole position of Reykjavik Pink Gin: it stays a gin where a great many pink bottles drop below the line and become fruit liqueurs. Strawberry flavours it, Icelandic mountain water brings it down to strength, and Reykjavik Spirits fills it in Iceland.

Strawberry is a difficult fruit to carry into a spirit. Its aroma is fragile and turns to jam at the first excess, which is why most strawberry drinks taste of confectionery rather than of fruit. Here it arrives fresh, over a base of classic gin botanicals that the house keeps to itself, and the colour that comes with it is a pale Arctic pink rather than a bright one. Icelandic water does the rest: soft, low in minerals, it leaves a light and cooling feel instead of the syrupy weight the colour might promise.

The palate follows the same line. Fruit opens it, smooth and clearly strawberry, then a drier, crisper thread runs through the middle and keeps the berry from setting. The finish is clean and balanced rather than sugary. At 38% there is less alcohol than usual to carry aroma, so the drink asks to be kept cold and not to be stretched.

Four centilitres to ten of elderflower tonic over ice, with a slice of strawberry and a lemon peel, both repeated on a plate beside the glass. Keep the garnish fresh and stir gently. The lemon peel matters more than it looks: strawberry brings sweetness and perfume but almost no acidity, and the peel supplies the edge the fruit cannot. Bottles run 50, 500 and 700 ml, the same liquid in all three.