Marula Pomegranate Gin

Two fruits, given opposite jobs. Pomegranate supplies acidity and a lively tartness; marula supplies roundness and a mellow sweetness, and the recipe works because neither was asked to do what the other does. Marula Gin makes this in Belgium at 40%.

Floral · Fruity

Marula is the house fruit and the softer of the pair, generous and slightly nutty, and left alone it would settle heavy across the centre. Pomegranate is the corrective: sharp, bright and genuinely acidic, it cuts across the marula and keeps the whole thing from going soft. That relationship is the entire structure of the gin, and it is a more considered arrangement than the fruit-plus-fruit label suggests.

Juniper holds a clear backbone under both, and strip that out and what remains is a fruit cup. Subtle floral nuances sit in the background, delicate rather than assertive, and they form the third dimension that keeps the fruit from sounding like a flat two-note pairing.

Soft juniper opens the nose with bright red fruit above it, the pomegranate tart and the marula rounder behind.

The palate stays smooth and light, the fruit clearly expressed and integrated into the structure rather than sitting on top of it. The finish is clean and gently fruity, red fruit and a faint floral trace lingering.

Tonic kept neutral, or barely floral, holds the balance where the recipe put it. Simple cocktails work when the fruit is meant to stay at the front. Nothing sweetened, which would remove the pomegranate's only reason for being here. Fruit-driven gins usually pick one fruit and turn the volume up; using two with opposing characters is the harder route and the one that survives a second glass without wearing out its welcome, which is the only test a flavoured ginFlavoured ginGin with flavourings, often fruity, added after distillation. It may be coloured and lightly sweetened.GlossarySee Flavoured gin gins really has to pass.