Hidden Curiosities gin is quite unusual for a British gin in that it uses 20 botanicals. There is always a danger in generalising, but British gins tend to weigh in under 14 botanicals, with our European friends with their aqua vita heritage at the higher end of the range when it comes to number of botanicals used.
Hidden Curiosities is the result of an extensive period of gin research by Jenny Meguro who tried more than 100 craft gins before deciding to set her sights on developing a unique gin recipe. The result is Hidden Curiosities which uses 20 botanicals including juniper, green cardamom, 5 types of pepper, Japanese yuzu, pink grapefruit, bergamot, lime, white mulberries, violet and lavender. The gin is distilled at Silent Pool Distillers in Surrey, who interestingly, produce an excellent gin using 24 botanicals.
And so the question is… is more, more? Just how does this gin taste?
The nose is bright, spicy and multi-layered. Perfumed lavender violet floral top notes, almost sherbet like, are balanced with bold green aromatic (cardamom) bass notes.
Tasted neat, the flavour profile starts with sweet, floral violet top notes. These give way to a tapestry of citrus grapefruit bitterness, cooling eucalyptus notes from juniper and cardamom and a tingling peppery bite. The linger is a satisfyingly dry bitter balanced by a smooth round sweetness with subtle, almost fruit-like undertones.
Tasted with tonic (Fever Tree regular) the floral notes lighten. The leading perfumed violet top notes blossom to an almost chamomile / apple sweetness. These give way to citrus bitterness with cooling juniper and a peppery bite that rounds out in the finish to a satisfying dry bitter with an underlying sweetness.
Hidden Curiosities is a satisfying, complex gin that results in an exceedingly tasty profile which balances perfumed floral, dry citrus, cooling juniper and warming pepper. It makes a very moreish gin and tonic with we garnish with lemon peel and strawberry, you can find it on our latest autumn / winter tasting menus.
If you missed it, you can find our review of Silent Pool here.