Greater Than London Dry Gin

Juniper from Macedonia and Bulgaria, angelica from Germany, orange peel from Spain and Morocco, and coriander, fennel, chamomile, ginger and lemongrass from India. The sourcing map explains the gin better than any tasting note: four of the nine botanicals travel, five grow at home, and the recipe is built where the two meet. None of those origins is unusual on its own, and the interest lies entirely in how they are put together.

Citrus · Dry · Spicy

The Indian five are what make it legible. Lemongrass gives a lemon-and-grass lift that no citrus peel produces, chamomile a soft apple-and-hay sweetness, fennel a clean aniseed line, ginger a dry warmth, and coriander seed the citrus-and-spice bridge that every good London DryLondon DryA style, not a place of origin: every flavour comes from distilling natural botanicals. After distillation only water and a trace of sugar may be added, with no flavouring or colouring.GlossarySee London Dry gins leans on. Almonds round the middle and keep the texture from turning thin, while juniper and angelica root do the classical structural work from below. Nine is a classic count for a London Dry, and none of the nine is there as decoration.

NAO Spirits launched it in September 2017 as the first London Dry made in India, on a grain base, at 42.8%. That fact matters less as a record than as an explanation: the brief was a gin that could stand up in the drink Indian drinkers actually order, which is a tall one with tonic, rather than a collector's bottle to be sipped neat. A neutral grain base serves that purpose, since it leaves the lemongrass and the chamomile nowhere to hide.

So the long drink is the point rather than an afterthought. Allow 4 cl of gin and 10 cl of Indian tonicIndian tonicThe classic tonic: sparkling water, bitter quinine and sugar. The name recalls colonial India, where quinine warded off malaria.Glossary, hard ice, a lemon wheel and a rosemary sprig. Have both bottles cold and mix once, lightly. Rosemary is not in the recipe, but it reaches towards juniper, and the lemon wheel simply sharpens the lemongrass already there.