Breaking new ground at the moment is the new addition to the Two Birds portfolio in the form of a speciality cocktail gin. A first of its kind, Two Birds have decided to use their independence to create the perfect gin for cocktails that will fill a gap in the market for a stronger gin but not at an over-proof level.
Before we get ahead of ourselves though, lets take a look at who Two Birds are, and how they’ve come to exploiting an untapped market.
Founded in Market Harborough, Leicestershire by Mark Gamble and Lyn Taylor back in February 2012, they wanted to harbour their passion and experience that the British countryside brings. With this, ‘Gerard‘, the hand crafted 25 litre copper still, was specially designed and built by master distiller Mark (an electrical engineer by trade), and is even believed to be the first of its kind in the UK. ‘Gerard’ can produce small batches of 100 bottles at a time and takes approx 4 hours to distill, with a hands-on approach at all stages.
There are three main expressions within the Two Birds portfolio – a London Dry gin, a vodka and also an absinthe.
The London Dry gin contains five botanicals (four of them being juniper, coriander, orris root and citrus) and they use fresh spring water taken from deep beneath the nearby Charnwood hills to take it down to its bottling strength.
Their English vodka is an infusion of distilled barley and sugar beet combining a classic combination of cereal and root crops, whilst their absinthe is created from a complex blend of aniseed and wormwood.
Their new Speciality Cocktail gin differs from the London Dry production, with the first maceration of the botanicals being cold and then the heat input is tightly controlled in order to gently release essential oils presented in the botanicals. This result of altering the distilling profile to bring out the individual flavours leads to a strong juniper-led London Dry style gin. But how does it fare? Well below, I give to you my tasting notes –
Two Birds Speciality Cocktail Gin – 40%
Intense juniper on the nose, but softens with the citrus aromas making the scents more rounded. A developing juniper base with sweet notes starting, but slowly replaced with spicier flavours. Smooth, delicate but never escapes the dominating juniper. Long, fresh, well-rounded and warm.
Fantastic on its own, and would be a cracking base for the likes of a Martini, Gimlet, Gibson or a Negroni. Even the bottles are impressive, with each designed and hand decorated with organic inks.
Worth a go, especially as you can purchase them in 20 cl sizes as well as the more original 70 cl. The Speciality Cocktail is only available on-trade for the time-being, so keep a look out in your favourite bar!
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