Cotswolds Dry Gin – Inaugural Release – 46% abv

On to my second gin review of recent releases from new English distilleries. Here’s some info, followed by my notes…

“Our Cotswolds Dry Gin has a delectable blend of nine carefully-considered botanicals.

The expression of the traditional London dry style comes from the maceration into our pure wheat spirit of juniper, coriander and angelica root, which have been left for 12 hours to allow their flavour characteristics to fully infuse.

We then add our unique botanical mix of Cotswolds lavender and bay leaf, grapefruit, lime, black pepper and cardamom seed into our carter head still for distillation before finishing with naturally refined Cotswolds water.

The result is a classic well-balanced juniper-led gin with crisp citrus and spice. This gin is delicious on its own and over ice. It’s robust enough to stand up to tonic and smooth enough to craft the ultimate gin martini.”

As I said in my review of The Lakes Gin… I’m very new to drinking gin, so my non-expert notes are as follows:

Nose: Juniper lead with many flavours all combining to make a relaxing nose. It’s fairly sweet and citrusy, but you can definitely tell there’s pepper and herbs in there.
Palate: Thick mouthfeel, gently sweet with citrus but juxtaposed with the peppery dryness.
Finish: Smooth and creamy with a sweet and relaxing end.
Thoughts: If you can apply season descriptions to gins (like often happens with whiskies), then I’d say this is an autumnal gin; it’s quite dry, relaxing & warming. Great for a night in!
Available: Around £35, available right now from the Cotswolds Distillery online shop.
Extra: I visited the Cotswolds Distillery earlier in the year and followed their interesting process of creating a botanicals library so that they could then pick and chose their recipe. It’s great to see how that work has come together into this great gin.

Thanks to Cotswolds Distillery for the sample.