Filliers Dry Gin 28 Tribute

Malt in 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 is what distinguishes the Tribute from everything else Filliers makes. Filliers works it alongside lavender, juniper and angelica inside the 28-botanical recipe that Firmin Filliers set down in 1928, distils in small copper stills, and fills the bottle at 40% ABV. Where the standard release runs hot and spicy at a higher strength, this one is pitched softer and considerably more floral.

Dry · Floral · Herbal

Lavender is the loudest voice here and it is handled carefully, floral without ever tipping over into perfume, sitting high in the aroma where the spice would normally have been. Malt is what makes the difference underneath: it gives the palate a rounded, faintly cereal weight that a purely botanical recipe cannot produce, and that weight is why the lavender reads as gentle rather than sharp. AngelicaAngelicaThe root of a tall umbellifer, earthy and musky. After juniper and coriander it is the most common botanical: it binds the aromas and holds the finish.Glossary dries out the foundation so the softness never becomes slack, and juniperJuniperThe one compulsory botanical: gin must taste predominantly of juniper. Its "berry" is really a small conifer cone, resinous and peppery.Glossary keeps the green resinousResinousAn aroma reminiscent of pine or fir resin. It is juniper's signature, due to compounds such as pinene.Glossary armature that the style demands. The result manages dry and floral simultaneously, a herbal thread running through the middle and a finish that stays clean throughout.

That softness makes it more forgiving than the higher-strength bottling from the same recipe. Plain tonic is the answer, and there is no need to reach for an expensive one: the malt gives the drink enough body to carry the dilutionDilutionThe water added by melting ice. In the right amount it opens the aromas and softens the alcohol; too much flattens the drink.Glossary on its own. Lemon peel lifts the floral side without competing against it, and a short sprig of lavender doubles the headline for anyone who wants it pushed further forward. Steer clear of sweet mixers: the malt is the first casualty. Two bottlings from one 1928 recipe, pitched at different strengths and pulling in different directions, is a more interesting proposition than another new label. It signs off dry, floral and softly grainy.