#Pipegin

Piping Live – Brockmans

theglasgowginclub Clubs, EVENTS, Food & Drinnk, Gin, Gin Party, Gin Tasting, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Last on our list for Piping Live and by no means least we have Brockmans. Now I have been waiting to get this on the list for a long time. At the Juniper festival in Edinburgh I was pairing up Brockmans with the new Pink Grapefruit tonic from Fentimans and I can honestly say it wasn’t like drinking Gin and Tonic, it was its own class. So much so I kept handing people tasters of Pink Grapefruit tonic and sending them over to the Brockmans stand.

Brockmans is the creation of one man Bob Fowkes who for years worked for the big companies such as Diageo. Bobs vision to create a gin Like No Other coupled with his knowledge of the market and marketing abilities gave birth to Brockmans which is indeed a Gin like no other, as no other Gin delivers the flavour Brockmans does.

Brockmans comprises of Blackberries, Cassia bark, Liquorice, Lemon Peel, Coriander, Angelica, Orange Peel, Almonds, Orris and Juniper (it is a Gin). The botanicals are steeped in pure grain spirit for hours to release their oils. Then, Brockmans is distilled in a 100 year old traditional copper still.

To smell you get straight of the bat that blackberry, which makes you think you could be about to taste a flavored vodka (which isn’t all Gins at heart) right and floral on the nose, its bloody excellent on the nose to be honest. To taste the Juniper is there but it’s sweeter, as the wintery fruit taste along with the citrus are dominate. There is also a wee bit of heat which is ginger bread like (you won’t get this with tonic though). Neat on the finish it is dry, which is a great balance from the sweetness on the nose.
Its honestly a wonderful Gin, well done Bob.
Remember we will be running two tasting events at Piping Live on Wednesday 9th August (from 5pm) and Friday 11th at the Piping Centre, Glasgow.

Tickets are available for Friday only now as Wednesday is sold out and can be found following the below link:

Wednesday 9th:
https://pipinglive.co.uk/events/2017-piping-live-presents-glasgow-gin-club-wed/

Friday 11th:
https://pipinglive.co.uk/events/2017-piping-live-presents-glasgow-gin-club-fri/

Thanks

Graeme

Piping Live – Glen Wyvis & Arbikie

theglasgowginclub Clubs, EVENTS, Food & Drinnk, Gin, Gin Party, Gin Tasting, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Right as I took Monday as a bank holiday for everything I didnt do a post about more Gins for Wednesday and Friday.

First off, we have added a fifth Gin to bill! Arnt we good to you. Mainly because I have been trying to get Glen Wyvis Gin back to one of our events for over a year.

So.. Glen Wyvis I discovered when running the Inverness Gin Tour as part of the NIP festival which runs out of Bog Bain Farm at the start of the year (i recommend that all booze lovers get out to one of their events). At this event I decided to slice the top of my finger off while cutting a orange then cracked a blood orange joke.

The distillery is still in development so stay tunned for updates on that. The Gin itself launched in summer 2015 and is the first from Dingwall. The takes it name from Glenskiach and Ben Wyvis, two old now defunct distilleries from the area. Incidentally a skiach is Gaelic for Hawthorn which is one of the botanicals in Glen Wyvis.

Glen Wyvis consists of nine botanicals, which are: locally picked hawthorn, Juniper (it is a Gin), Orange & Lemon Peel, Coriander Seeds, Angelica Root, Cinnamon, Orris Root, Almond Powder.

To taste there is a straight hit of Juniper, which lingers just enough for the Citrus Peel to come through. A very pleasant fresh tasting Gin which tastes like its made with love and attention.

Next on our list is something we haven’t had back in a while and is now my local distillery.

Arbikie is the a relatively new distillery from Angus (my local), well its actually an old one as apparently there was a distillery on the Arbikie estate over a hundred years It is ran by the Stirling family who decided to make the jump into distilling a few years back and who employed distiller Kirsty Black to craft their visions of Whisky, Gin and Potato Vodka.

Incidentally Arbikie are one of the few Gin companies in Scotland who make their own base alcohol. The Potato Vodka their produce (from locally farmed tatties on the Arbikie Farm) forms the base of their main Gin: Kirsty’s Gin.

Kirsty’s Gin, fuses a combination of traditional botanicals (juniper, angelica, coriander, liquorice and orris) with three more unusual ingredients, each plucked from sea, rock or land, such as; kelp, Carline thistle root and blueberries.

To turn Vodka to Gin, the spirit is added back into one of Arbikie’s copper stills alongside all of the botanicals and left to soak for a day. The still is heated very slowly, taking a full day to run. Taking off the highs and lows from the still what’s left is rested for a day then diluted down to its bottling strength of 43%.

Kirsty’s Gin has vanilla softness and fruit sweetness, no doubt led by the blaeberries. Its creamier than most spirits and something else we at Gin Club cant grasp but we put that down to the Potato Vodka.
Arbikie do a host of various products now alongside the Potato Vodka and Kirsty’s Gin, they have launched the spicy Chili Vodka and the AK Gin.

Remember we will be running two tasting events at Piping Live on Wednesday 9th August (from 5pm) and Friday 11th at the Piping Centre, Glasgow.

Tickets are available for both nights and can be found following the below links, Wednesday is nearly sold out though.
Wednesday 9th:
https://pipinglive.co.uk/events/2017-piping-live-presents-glasgow-gin-club-wed/

Friday 11th:

https://pipinglive.co.uk/events/2017-piping-live-presents-glasgow-gin-club-fri/

Piping Live – Valentia Gin

theglasgowginclub Clubs, EVENTS, Food & Drinnk, Gin, Gin Party, Gin Tasting Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

So our first Gin to be featured at our two events for Piping Live is Valentia.

Valentia Gin comes from the Sierra Nevada mountains in Granada, Spain where (I read) the water is known for its exceptional purity. The Gin is double distilled in small batches in a traditional cooper pot still. Valentia is made using “Mediterranean botanicals” which are; Juniper (it is a Gin), Angelica, Cardamom, Thyme, Coriander, Rosemary and Valencia citrus fruits.

When we have discussed Valentia in the past we described it as the perfect Gin for that feeling that you are on holiday as itsfresh, fruity and definitely citrusy.

To taste there is the initial juniper hit but it is like a punch, it’s a level hit, this fades quickly to leave the citrus fruit. To make it had an orange sherbet flavour.

One of the added bonuses of having Valentia along is you get to meet Alfonso. For the ladies reading, Alfonso is Spanish, well dressed and owns a Gin company. You can’t really go wrong there and his chat is on point.

I’m pretty sure he is due me a pint from juniper festival too.

Remember we will be running two tasting events at Piping Live on Wednesday 9th August (from 5pm) and Friday 11th at the Piping Centre, Glasgow.

Tickets are available for both nights and can be found following the below links, Wednesday is nearly sold out though.

Wednesday 9th:
https://pipinglive.co.uk/events/2017-piping-live-presents-glasgow-gin-club-wed/

Friday 11th:
https://pipinglive.co.uk/events/2017-piping-live-presents-glasgow-gin-club-fri/