Manchester, until a few years ago, had no gin history at all. Never a distillery mentioned, yet within the North West a hive of gin production with G&J Distillers only a few miles away in Warrington. Since the launch of Thomas Dakin and its plans of being the first Manchester gin to be produced within the city, numerous others have taken its mantle, including Manchester Three Rivers and Manchester Gin. It’s the latter that receives a focus, as they launch their latest gin expression to the city.
“It all began at 1.30am on a wet and cold February evening in Manchester. Whilst she sat alone minding the coats, he was a spare wheel to his two friends. From across the room he spotted her and offered to buy her a drink. Her response was sweet and simple, “a G&T”. Over the next hour they sat discussing everything from travelling the world to their favourite foods. Oh and not to forget, their love of gin.
Two years quickly passed and to anyone who knew us, we became known as ‘The Poppets,’ so much so that when you look at the back of our bottle, you will see the distillers as ‘P&P’ which means we made the bottle together, with love.”
A story of true dedication, not one for the money so-to-speak, it comes across as genuine affection for the category, with Manchester the forefront to its production, adopting the symbol of the city, the working Bee, that was adopted itself during the Industrial Revolution as it embodied the work-ethic of Mancunians’.
Months passed before Seb and Jenny settled upon ‘Wendy’, a bespoke-made copper column still that creates their take on a London Dry Gin, using twelve botanicals overall that include Dandelion and Burdock Root, seasonal orange and lemon, ground almonds, coriander and juniper.
However, this time around, it’s their newly released (as of July 2017), Overboard expression, their take on the Navy Strength at 57% abv after their success in their Raspberry Infused bottle. How does it fare? Well below, I give to you my tasting notes –
Manchester Overboard – 57%
Wax-styled lemon and pomelo aromas upon the nose, with hints of dandelion coming through. A growing profile of lemons and coriander, followed by the earthy tones of juniper that follows into a long, fresh and slightly dry finish of cinnamon and almond.
It’s that new that a signature serve hasn’t been created yet, although I’ve personally had it within a gin and tonic, using light tonic instead of Indian, which offered a refreshing finish and retained the strength well. It’s also not available yet, but keep an eye out on their website shop so you can order a bottle for your cabinet once it’s released!
© David Marsland and Drinks Enthusiast 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog/sites author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to David Marsland and Drinks Enthusiast with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
DRINKS ENTHUSIAST 