Hendrick's Lunar

Flowers that open after dark are the starting point here, and they behave differently from daytime blooms: heavier, sweeter, more insistent. Lesley Gracie built Lunar around them as the second release in her Cabinet of Curiosities, the series where Hendrick's master distiller works outside the original recipe, and bottled it at 43.4% ABV.

Citrus · Spicy · Floral

The house grammar is still audible, but it has moved back a step. Cucumber and rose, the two essences that define standard Hendrick's, are present without leading; what leads is night-scented floral character, followed by warm baked spice and a clean burst of citrus at the close. As with every Hendrick's, the liquid comes from two stills blended together - the Bennett pot stillPot stillA traditional still, often copper, that distils in batches. It keeps more texture and character than a column.Glossary for weight and depth, the Carter HeadCarter HeadA still fitted with a botanical basket in the vapour path: delicate plants are infused by the vapour instead of being boiled.Glossary for its lighter, more perfumed vapour-basket extraction - but the botanical bill is set for warmth and spice rather than for the crisp garden freshness of the original.

The result is smooth and quietly heady. The nose is floral before anything else, sweet without being sugary, with the spice sitting just underneath.

On the palate the baked-spice register comes forward properly, closer to warm pepper and dried aromatics than to anything sharp, and juniperJuniperThe one compulsory botanical: gin must taste predominantly of juniper. Its "berry" is really a small conifer cone, resinous and peppery.Glossary keeps a dry line running through it. Citrus arrives at the end and lifts the finish clear.

Keep the serve straightforward. Fill a highballHighballA long drink served in a tall, straight glass with plenty of ice: a spirit topped with soda or tonic. The word also names the glass.Glossary with ice, pour 5 cl and add 15 cl Thomas Henry Tonic Water, which is neutral enough not to argue with the flowers. Three rounds of cucumber and a pinch of black pepper is the garnish: the cucumber reaches back to the house signature, and the pepper meets the baked spice head on rather than decorating it. Serve it properly cold - like most floral gins, it gives its best in the first few minutes.