One of the finds for 2013 for me is this belter; The Melbourne Gin Company out of the Yarra Valley is so smokin hot that my liver, and that of my partner and two very good friends this summer has taken quite a beating. But remember, the liver is evil and must be punished.
Distilled from rain water run off from the Gembrook Hill winery where man-about-town Andrew Marks for the past few years has been tinkering with batches and has quite simply nailed it with this bad boy.
All aromatics, five native I believe, are stilled individually giving this blend a purity of spice and fruit that I have not come across before; clean white pepper, subtle citrus and gorgeous white spice all play a part in delivering a smooth, elegant and compelling mouth feel that one bottle just doesn't cut it.
And the garnish? citrus by all means but instead of the lemon/lime flesh, try grating the zest in to the gin - with tonic - or something different would be the above picture; peppercorn flowers and leaves found in many parks and near train stations all over Melbourne. As Split Enz said many years ago, 'why don't you give it a whirl...' Go on!!!
Available at all good independent wine retailers for about $70
I only just discovered this but it is now a permanent fixture in the freezer. Loving it with Empire Tonic. The other gin I'm also enjoying is Four Pillars, completely at the other end of the spectrum but perfect for a negroni. And only a negroni. MGC though, I'll be coming back to for everything else.
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