Grapefruit appears on the palate and there is no grapefruit in the recipe. That impression comes from Mediterranean lemon peel meeting cassia bark, the sweetness of the bark rounding the citrus until it reads as a different fruit entirely, and noticing it explains how this bottle works. Mombasa Club builds the lemon edition on juniper, coriander, angelica root and cloves, at 41.5%.

Lemon does the leading and it does it as peel rather than juice, which matters because the oil held in the skin is aromatic while pressed juice offers acid alone. The aroma is bright and unmistakably citric, and the palate is fuller than a lemon gin usually manages. Cassia bark is the reason: warm, dry and cinnamon-adjacent, it fills the middle where the fruit alone would leave a gap. Cloves arrive behind it, and they are the boldest choice on the list, a strong medicinal sweetness held in check by the quantity rather than by anything else in the recipe. Coriander is the hinge between citrus and spice. Angelica root sits at the bottom, dry and earthy, and lends the finish its length. Juniper runs through the centre, present enough that the fruit is never left in charge.

Full-bodied is unusual for a citrus gin and it changes the build. Neutral tonic answers well over a glass iced to the top, and the ratio can be generous since there is body to spare. Lemon peel is the obvious choice and repeats the recipe; orange peel points at the cassia and the cloves instead. Skip flavoured mixers, which would only quarrel with the fruit already present. A colonial-era name and a modern citrus edition make an odd pairing that the liquid resolves. Every flavoured gin adds something; this one adds a fruit the base recipe was already halfway toward. It ends citric, spiced and full.