A piece of Bavarian granite comes in the box, and the stone is not decoration: the gin is filtered through granite before bottling. Penninger makes GRANIT in the Bavarian Forest, resting the spirit in earthenware before that filtration and building the recipe on juniper with regional herbs and spices at 40% ABV. Lemon balm, gentian and baldmoney sit alongside citrus and cardamom, a set of plants that belongs to that specific landscape rather than to the global botanical market.

The aroma is floral and herbal in equal measure, and it is the herbs that give it character. Lemon balm brings a soft lemony green note quite unlike citrus peel, gentian contributes the dry bitterness it is known for in alpine liqueurs, and baldmoney adds a rooty, faintly celery-like depth that very few gins carry. Around them, citrus brightens the upper register and cardamom threads an aromatic warmth across the centre. Juniper holds all of it inside a recognisable frame, which a list this regional could easily have lost. The granite filtration shows in the texture more than in flavour: the palate is crisp and distinctly mineral, closing long and clean on a stony dryness.

That mineral edge is the thing to keep. Choose a briskly carbonated plain tonic, which suits the dryness, and stay light on the garnish: lemon peel picks up the lemon balm, and a small herb sprig underlines the alpine side. Avoid sweet mixers, which flatten the gentian bitterness before they touch anything else. A small measure poured neat and barely chilled is worth the detour, since the gentian and the stone dryness are clearest that way. Not many bottles convey a specific forest this plainly. It closes mineral, herbal and dry.