HENDRICK's Flora Adora Gin 70 cl / 43.4 % Schottland

With rather floral notes, the new special bottling Flora Adora comes up just in time for the beginning of spring. In it, the notes of angelica come more to the fore through botanicals added to the classic gin. The finish reveals interesting rose aromas.

Since 1886, the family distillery William Grant & Sons exists in Scotland. Today known mainly for its gin, but they first distilled whiskey, as is customary for Scotland. In 1966, William Grant's angel, Charles Gordon, bought two unusual stills - one of them an old Bennett, the other a rare Carter Head. What was to happen to these stills, however, did not emerge until 33 years later. The now legendary Hendrick's Gin was to be created in these special stills. For this gin, rose petals and cucumber are used in addition to the usual ingredients such as juniper berries, coriander, orris root and lemon peel. However, the flavors are carefully distilled out using steam and not boiled out as is usually the case. Only the best grain neutral alcohol is used as a base in the pot stills and Carter Head stills, which thus guarantee a particularly large copper contact and a soft taste of the gin. Almost all steps of the production process are still done in the old traditional way, with great attention to detail, in small 450-liter batches and by hand. However, even more is created in the distillery in its experimental laboratory, also called the cabinet of curiosities. This is where master distiller Leslie Gracie hides out to develop a few new gin creations. Each year, one of the creations enters production as a limited bottling, so in this case it was time for the Flora Adora. It follows previous special bottlings Neptunia, Lunar and Midsummer Solstice and stands out with its floral notes. Its base is based on the classic gin, with only rose and cucumber added as botanicals. On the palate, the floral notes come through clearly. The light pink gin is bottled in brown apothecary-style bottles.