is on the finish that you really get the lemon drizzle cake ; a taste that lingers and lasts . This really is tremendous and , as with the London Dry Gin , would work well with martini ' s ( why not have a crack at making a lemon martini ?).
4 . Next up – Sipsmith ’ s ‘ Sloe Gin ’. Now I will confess that I have never been a huge fan of sloe gins . That is not to say that there are not some great ones out there . There undoubtedly are and there are many who will enjoy them . Notwithstanding I have to say that this sloe gin was probably one of the nicest I have tasted . Again the London Dry Gin is used to start with . Once distilled it is then left to rest on sloe berries , which have been previously frozen so as to break the skins . As sloe berries are part of the plum family you get dark fruit on the nose and cassis on the palate . They , Sipsmith ’ s themselves , describe their sloe gin as having a ‘ wonderfully unique character ’. It does . In essence it is a warming red liqueur . I don ’ t think they are far wrong when they state , on their website , that this is : “ The ideal hip flask booster on a wintry stroll ”. Good idea !
5 . Finally the Sipsmith ‘ Black Maple Gin Liqueur ’. I thought , when I heard this , it was going to be interesting . And so it proved . Again we start with the classic London Dry Gin . This is then part smoked and part infused with maple . This gives the liqueur a rich dark golden colour . On the nose this smells sweet ( almost confectionary sweet ). On the palate you get smooth caramel notes . Again , I am not a massive fan of many liqueurs – but this was very nice . I even came away from my visit with a bottle of this , in a nice little box , accompanied as it was by a couple of recipes . Try a ‘ Blueberry Pancake Fizz ’ ( the liqueur mixed with the London Dry Gin , an egg white , freshly squeezed lemon juice and some blueberries ). Alternatively an ‘ Affogato ’ ( the liqueur , a shot of expresso and vanilla ice cream ).
THE SIPPING SOCIETY
After the tour , after the history lessons and after the tasting I thought it was all over ! Then someone mentioned the ‘ Sipping Society ’. This is a gin club membership that gives members the opportunity to taste different hand crafted gins every other month . Every other month the latest hand crafted creations , from the Sipsmith laboratory , are bottled and mailed to members . There is an annual fee of £ 180 , or a bi-monthly fee of £ 35 for this , but ultimately you will get a dozen or so different gins each year ( two
every other month ). These are all genuinely unique , extraordinary , hand crafted gins . Did I join up ? Of course !
THE VERDICT
1 . The Sipsmith range covers a number of different types of gin and gin based liqueurs . They are all great examples of their type . More to the point they are all wonderful examples of their type . You can tell from the talk , the history lesson , the tour and the tasting session that Sipsmith are proud of ‘ their lot ’. Frankly – so they should be .
2 . If you are in London a visit to the distillery is worth the trip . There is a nearby tube station ( Stamford Brook ) followed by a ten minute walk . Details of the tours and tastings are available , and the cost of them can be found , on the Sipsmith website ( www . sipsmith . com ). It is , in every sense of the word , money well spent .
3 . But you don ’ t have to visit the distillery to enjoy their wonderful gins and liqueurs . Today you can purchase them at many local outlets or online ( e . g . Sainsbury ’ s , Tesco , Waitrose , Ocado , M & S , at many independent wine and spirit outlets , Amazon – the list is endless ). At the end of the day I can highly recommend their beautifully crafted gins and liqueurs ; so go and find them . You won ’ t have to look too far , so successful have they been in their relatively short life in the world of gin , to find their beautifully labelled bottles .
4 . If you are very adventurous , join the ‘ Sipping Society ’. If the products they send over the next 12 months are anything like the products I have tasted thus far , then I suspect I am in for an interesting and rewarding year !
5 . Remember this : “ Of all the gin joints , in all the towns , in all the world , she walks into mine ” ( Casablanca - 1942 )? Why not walk into Sipsmiths ‘ gin joint ’. As Humphrey Bogart also famously said in the very same film – it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship !
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