Gillemore Magical Gin

Forty-six percent changes what a spice list can do. At that strength cubeb pepper and grains of paradise stop being background warmth and become a structural element, and Gillemore built a 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 that depends on exactly that: the peppery finish is not an accident of the recipe but the reason for the proof.

Citrus · Spicy · Floral

The two peppers work differently from each other. Cubeb is resinousResinousAn aroma reminiscent of pine or fir resin. It is juniper's signature, due to compounds such as pinene.Glossary and slightly bitter, closer to allspice than to black pepper, and it sits low. Grains of paradiseGrains of paradiseWest African seeds related to cardamom, also called melegueta pepper: peppery and warm, with a citrus note.Glossary are sharper and brighter, with a clean heat that arrives late and lasts, and they are what the long finish leans on. Cinnamon warms the space between them. Above all that, lemon and orange zest supply a fresh citrus layer that keeps the spice from becoming heavy, and iris root lays a subtle floral note underneath that binds the whole thing without being identifiable on its own. Coriander and angelica hold the classical balance and structure, and juniper leads the tasting from the first moment.

The palate is powerful and well defined, and the sequence is legible: juniper, then layered citrus freshness, then a spice character that builds progressively rather than arriving whole. The texture is dry and structured, and it ends long, genuinely peppery.

Restrained garnishes are the right instruction, since a gin this assertive needs nothing added to it. A dry GinDry ginGin with no perceptible sweetness: in the European Union, the word "dry" allows at most 0.1 g of sugar per litre.GlossarySee Dry gin gins and Tonic shows the strength and the spice together. Spirit-forward cocktails suit it for the same reason: there is enough here to survive a vermouthVermouthAn aromatised, fortified wine flavoured with herbs and barks; its name comes from the German Wermut, wormwood. Dry vermouth goes into a Martini, sweet red into a Negroni.Glossary without disappearing into it. London Dry is a method rather than a place, and a Belgian one carrying this much pepper is a reminder that the rules govern how a gin is made and not what it is allowed to taste of.