plymouth gin

[perfectly pickled]

Visited the blackfriars distillery in plymouth, england last week for one of their "gin connoisseur" tours followed by a session at the onsite "refectory" cocktail bar.

the tour lasted about 1 1/2 hours - a quick history of building (supposedly the last stop for the pilgrim fathers before crossing the pond), the origins of gin, brand history, then into the distilling room for a run through of the distilling process.

after that you're taken through into the tasting room for a blind tasting session of 5 different gins ( though they have at least a hundred different bottles in there I was alittle disappointed that they mostly chose "supermarket" gins) the 5 were gordons, hendricks, beefeater, bombay sapphire and plymouth. you're given 5 covered snifters with a sample of each which they get you to water down to roughly 20% abv. then you're given samples of the botanicals used in plymouth gin to crush and get an idea of the flavours to expect (juniper, cardamon, orange & lemon peel, coriander, angelica & orris root) before trying the "nose" of the gins in turn, follosed by a taste of each. other than plymouth I have to say that all the others were very one dimensional in both tests gordons heavily juniper led, hendricks flowery but no juniper taste at all, beefeater quite bland & sapphire overly spicy. whether by accident or design the plymouth stood out - juniper but then sweet citrus nose, and a powerful citrus taste ending with with smooth juniper & spice. it was a clear favourite over the others.

Would have loved to have been able to try a few more of their bottles, we managed to get one little try of a spanish gin called "Mare" flavoured with rosemary, thyme, basil & olives as well as the more usual botanicals, unusual - would like to try it in a martini.

after grabbing a bottle of navy strength gin(57%abv) in the gift shop - where you guys would spend a small fortune, lots of the chivas brothers top shelf brands including some single malt discontinued & cask strength whiskies (£200-400 each) we headed up to the refectory bar. complimentary G&T,followed by a half dozen classic cocktails - negroni / manhattan / whisky sour/ dry martini / ramos gin fizz & a martinez. wobbled back to the hotel via another bar or three, and woke with enough of a hangover to know it was a good night! highly reccomend this tour if you're in the vicinity (bar is members only fri-sat though unless you're in there already from the tour)


(also went to a cider & cheese festival plus a beer festival in the same week, it was warm,sunny & never rained - thats hitting the jackpot in england!)

[Gin McGuinness]

Fantastic report on a fine gin. Totally jealous.

[Jiggers McCoy]

We had a similar experience at Vinopolis in London. After sampling wine, champagne, scotch, rum and beer, the tour ended with a presentation on Bombay Sapphire and the gin cocktail of your choice. They even had big bins of juniper and the other botanicals so you could touch, smell and taste them.

We also did the Bols HQ in Amsertdam. Mostly it's just fruity nonsense, but they did have Genever, which I'd never tried before. The precursor to gin, it's not distilled as many times as London dry, so it's more of an infused, non-aged whisky. Lends a bit of funkiness to your tom collinses, etc.

[perfectly pickled]

what is vinopolis - a permanent drinks expo? I gather some of the big drinks industry cartels sponsor it but don't know much else.
I've yet to try jenever, my local bars either don't carry it or were ot of stock when I asked

[Jiggers McCoy]

It's right on the south side of the Thames, pretty close to the Globe and it's kind of like a kids' science museum, but for booze. You pick the "experience" you want and buy admission, and the different experiences have to do with how many tastings you get, and of what. For example, my wife wanted to taste a shitload of wine, but I was more interested in doing some wine, some rum, some absinthe, etc.

Then, you go to little seminars on how to taste wine, champagne, whisky, etc. and they let you loose with your tasting tickets. Along the way, there's videos, demonstrations, and exhibits about the science and culture of alcohol. It's really a damn good time. There's also a restaurant and liquor store, but they're very pricey.

The best part is a lot of people don't use all their tickets. There were a couple of bachelorette parties there and they gave us their whisky-tasting tickets, so we got about 7 extra pours of single malt (think it was Glenfiddich).

Man, remembering all this really makes me want to go back!

[Wingman]

Vinopolis.

holy shit that sounds fun.

[perfectly pickled]

I'm going!!

[John Barleycorn]

It's right on the south side of the Thames, pretty close to the Globe and it's kind of like a kids' science museum, but for booze. You pick the "experience" you want and buy admission, and the different experiences have to do with how many tastings you get, and of what. For example, my wife wanted to taste a shitload of wine, but I was more interested in doing some wine, some rum, some absinthe, etc.

Then, you go to little seminars on how to taste wine, champagne, whisky, etc. and they let you loose with your tasting tickets. Along the way, there's videos, demonstrations, and exhibits about the science and culture of alcohol. It's really a damn good time. There's also a restaurant and liquor store, but they're very pricey.

The best part is a lot of people don't use all their tickets. There were a couple of bachelorette parties there and they gave us their whisky-tasting tickets, so we got about 7 extra pours of single malt (think it was Glenfiddich).

Man, remembering all this really makes me want to go back!

Reminds me of Epcot Center, but for booze!

[Wingman]

Reminds me of Epcot Center, but for booze!

epcot's not for booze?

[John Barleycorn]

Reminds me of Epcot Center, but for booze!

epcot's not for booze?

You can get booze, but it's not about booze. It's about countries, robot presidents, the future, and some other bullshit.

[Wingman]

You can get booze, but it's not about booze. It's about countries, robot presidents, the future, and some other bullshit.

cearly i'm doing it wrong. i thought it was about drinking around the world, boozing in the daylight, and it being socially acceptible to be drunk around your kid. ;)

[John Barleycorn]

You can get booze, but it's not about booze. It's about countries, robot presidents, the future, and some other bullshit.

cearly i'm doing it wrong. i thought it was about drinking around the world, boozing in the daylight, and it being socially acceptible to be drunk around your kid. ;)

Last time I was there I was five. Your perception of the place might be more astute than mine. For example, research shows that the presidents are actually in the Magic Kingdom.