100&NOMORE brings together roasted cacao beans, tonka bean and nutmeg with juniper in Oaxaca, one of the numbered releases from this Barcelona gin house run by Harpo Spirits. The recipe also uses wood from barrels that once held Pedro Ximénez, the dark, sweet sherry of Andalusia. Such casks are more often used to finish whisky or rum, so their use in a gin is unusual. Its 50 cl bottle, marked with a lot number, holds the gin at 40% ABV.

Woody · Dry · Spicy

The name points to the Mexican state of Oaxaca, a historic cacao region, and the gin is meant to evoke the old spice routes that carried cacao and other goods between the Americas and Europe. Each 100&NOMORE gin explores one idea, one place or one ingredient in a short run; the same house has released bottlings named after Brighton, Jerez and Sichuan.

The producer describes Oaxaca as deep and complex. Roasted cacao gives it an unmistakable character, closer to dark chocolate and coffee than to sweet confectionery, while the barrel wood adds warmth and depth; the old sherry casks can also lend a faint raisin-like note. Tonka brings a soft, almond-and-vanilla fragrance, and nutmeg a warm spice that keeps the cacao from feeling heavy. Juniper stays underneath throughout, so the spirit reads as a gin rather than a chocolate liqueur, and the finish is dry and gently spiced rather than sweet.

Taste a small measure neat, then another over a single large cube, to see how the cold sharpens the spice. With tonic, a strip of fresh orange peel brightens the nose and a few cacao nibs underline the darker side; pour the tonic slowly over generous ice. The gin also suits a stirred, Negroni-style drink, where its cacao meets the bitterness of the aperitif.