Readers of the blog will know that I’ve been to Loch Brewery and Distillery a couple of times now, partly to drink a G&T with Mel and Craig, and partly to stock up on English beer for Mr GQ.
Aside from their excellent hospitality and fabulous location, Loch Brewery & Distillery are making very good gin.
Mel and Craig decided to go the traditional route for their Loch Brewery and Distillery Gin by shaping their recipe from poring over old distilling books and not using any native Australian botanicals.
The coriander, mace, cassia, angelica, liquorice, and other assorted botanicals (around 12-14 in total) are all ground by hand using a pestle and mortar. Craig says “We found this brought a fresh and balanced flavour profile to the gin. We tried mechanically grinding once but we didn’t like the way the aroma profile worked so we went back doing it by hand.”
This ‘botanical powder’ is then added to the pot still with the juniper berries ready for distillation. The still is one of the smallest I’ve encountered and was made to their specifications in Portugal.
Mel and Craig set out to produce a gin that could be sipped neat and I think they’ve done well to achieve that.
On the nose there is pine and citrus with some fresh, floral notes, (possibly lavender?). Flavour-wise it has pine, citrus, and lightly floral notes with some spice and warmth, finishing with a little liquorice, and is very well-balanced.
It makes a fabulous G&T but being well-balanced would suit most gin cocktails.
Country of Origin: Australia
ABV: 41%
Price: Medium
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