Dragon eye and lotus leaf are not botanicals you expect to find in a London Dry, and they are the reason this bottle reads differently from its neighbours. Bulldog assembles twelve botanicals sourced from around the world on a grain neutral spirit at 40% ABV, setting those two unusual entries alongside juniper, orris root, lavender, almonds, liquorice, cassia and white poppy. It took a bronze medal at the Berlin International Spirits Competition in 2020.

The classical structure is still there underneath, which is what makes the additions work rather than jar. Juniper occupies the centre, dry and resinous, with cassia laying a band of warm bark spice across it and almonds contributing a soft, slightly nutty roundness. Lavender is the most audible of the flowers, floral without becoming perfumed, and orris root binds the whole with its powdery texture. Beneath all of it runs the earthy, faintly woody register that the lotus leaf and white poppy bring, quieter than the rest but responsible for the depth. Liquorice softens the edges last of all. The palate is smooth and notably even, with woody, spicy, floral and earthy notes arriving in turn rather than competing.

That evenness is the point of the bottle: it was made for mixing, not for contemplation. A plain tonic gives the botanicals room without adding anything of its own, and a twist of lemon does more for them than any other finish. For a warmer reading, orange peel tracks the cassia and the almond more closely. It has enough backbone for a Negroni and enough smoothness for a straightforward highball, which is a wider range than most premium London Dry gins manage. It closes gently spiced, with the earthy notes lasting longest.