Puss & Mew Honey Coconut Barrel Aged Gin

Puss & Mew's Honey Coconut Gin, made in Nunawading in Melbourne's east, already pairs honey and toasted coconut with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. For this limited edition, the distillery filled it into premium ex-Oloroso sherry casksSherry caskA cask that once held sherry, the fortified wine of Andalusia. Dry, oxidative oloroso brings nutty, dried-fruit notes; Pedro Ximénez brings raisin and molasses.Glossary sourced from Portugal and bottled it at cask strength, 63.5% ABV, in a 500 ml format. The sherry influence is the centre of the profile.

Woody · Limited Edition · Spicy

Puss & Mew describes it as rich and decadent, with a Christmas-pudding character, pronounced sherry, biscuit notes and a spiced finish. Honey and toasted coconut give the palate a soft, round sweetness, and the Oloroso wood adds dried fruit, nuts and a gentle oak dryness. CassiaCassiaThe bark of a Chinese cinnamon tree, coarser and hotter than Ceylon cinnamon. It brings a warm, slightly sweet spice.Glossary bark, nutmeg and allspice gather into a warm spice that lasts well into the finish, and juniper keeps a dry thread beneath it all. At this strength the flavours are dense and powerful: a few drops of water open the sherry and coconut and calm the alcohol. It is a gin to sip slowly, in small measures, rather than one to pour freely.

The distillery suggests sipping it over ice or using it in Christmas-inspired cocktails. A gin Old Fashioned or a stirred drink with a little sweet sherry suits the dried-fruit side, and a single large cube is enough to follow the cask as it opens.

For a longer drink, pour 2.5 cl over clear iceClear iceIce without air bubbles, made by slow, directional freezing. Denser, it melts more slowly and dilutes less.Glossary in a small tulip glass, add 7 cl of Thomas Henry Spicy Ginger Beer and stir gently once. Place a toasted coconut shard and a dried fig in the glass, then arrange matching pieces on a small side plate beside it. The small measure respects the cask strength, the ginger beer's heat meets the baking spice, and the coconut and fig echo the gin and the sherry wood.