The number in the name is the recipe: 28 separate spice and fruit distillates, blended rather than macerated together. The formula dates to 1928 and to Firmin Filliers, who kept it in the family, and the Belgian London Dry that results is bottled at a substantial 46% ABV. Blending finished distillates instead of running everything through one still is slower and far more controllable, and it is why the spice here arrives in defined layers.

Spice is the headline and citrus is what keeps it moving. The nose opens dry and aromatic, with juniper firm underneath and a warm spice register spread above it, then fresh citrus cuts across the top and stops the whole thing settling into heaviness. At 46% those aromas project rather than sit politely in the glass, and the palate carries real weight: dry through the attack, spiced and layered across the middle, with the citrus returning at the end to clean everything up. There is no sweetness anywhere, which is what the London Dry designation demands and what the strength makes obvious.

Gins at this strength are often treated as cocktail-only, but the balance here works long as well as short. Reach for a plain tonic and be generous with the ice, because the drink takes dilution well and the spice unfolds steadily as it does; a shy pour will taste hollow. The 28 distillates are the reason there is still something arriving at the far end of a long drink, where a single-still gin would have finished speaking much earlier. Lemon peel puts an edge on the citrus already there, while orange peel leans the drink toward the warmer spices instead. It is an excellent Martini gin and holds up in anything stirred. It finishes dry, spiced and long, the citrus fading first and the spice much later.