The Poetic License flagship gin went on to win a whole host of prestigious awards, giving Mark the confidence to build the brand further and develop more exciting recipes for adventurous gin drinkers to enjoy. Some traditional spices can be found in most gins, not just spiced ones, as they are considered as ‘core botanicals’. In spiced gins the distiller might want to bring out these flavours more by using larger quantities of the core spices. For example, coriander seeds will add citrusy notes, nuttiness, warmth and a hint of spiciness when distilled. It is actually the second most used botanical after juniper. Most gin brands recommend garnishing their spiced gin with a juicy slice of orange. However, I find that if the flavour profile is sweeter, the orange can be a bit much. In which case I prefer a slice of pink grapefruit to freshen it up. Mandarin and blood orange are also flavours often paired with spiced gin.

Pink Pepper Gin, 44% ABV – The key botanical here is obviously the pink peppercorn, but they also use cardamom, honey and vanilla. Alex smiles: “Mark was so excited that he went and bought a 500-litre still and named her Gracie. He gave her a home behind the bar at Roker Hotel, where you can still find her today.” You can also experiment with the fruits that you’d like to include - we’ve kept it fairly simple below, with just the addition of bright and citrusy orange zest, but popping some clementines, sloes or even plums into the mixture while it’s steeping would result in a wonderfully deep, flavoured result.Pink peppercorn is spicy, but when used in gin it is not overly hot. The light spiciness of pink pepper works nicely together with sweeter botanicals. Ludlow Spiced Gin, 42% ABV – The spice list includes ginger, nutmeg, caraway, cubeb, grains of paradise, liquorice and cassia. Almond and elderberries help to balance the spices. Create a gin sour with flavoured syrup. You could enhance the spices using cinnamon, vanilla, ginger or chilli syrup. Or add fruits such as pear in together with the spices. These syrups can also be used in a Gin Hot Toddy with spiced gin. Spiced gins are warm, spicy, nutty and sometimes a bit earthy. Distilleries not only use the traditional spices found along the Maritime Silk Road, but also many more ‘modern’ botanicals.

Copperhead The Gibson Edition, 40% ABV – As the name suggests, this gin was designed with Gibson Martinis in mind. The flavour profile is savoury and spicy. The botanicals include allspice, cassia, dill seeds, fennel, ginger, mace, cardamom pepper and more. Other spices include vanilla, curry leaves, caraway, mace, allspice, dill seeds, bay leaf, chipotle chilli, turmeric, myrrh…. Mixers for spiced gin Hrafn Gin Thought & Memory, 45% ABV – Fresh and juicy with a warming finish. Botanicals include mandarin peel, coriander, cubeb pepper, orris root and more. Without the final distillation process used by the pros, your own batch will come out looking a bit yellowy or orange, depending on which botanicals you use. This won’t do you any harm, but if you’d rather have a clearer-looking spirit, you can simply pass it through a water filter jug a few times (we don’t normally bother though as it doesn’t affect the taste!). The artisans at Poetic License ended up making a whole selection of delicious gins and liqueurs, crafted with Mark’s bold ethos in mind.Mark decided to take a closer look at the stuff and study distilling for himself, and by the time he was through it was settled – making gin was for him. As well as classic Spiced Gins, you can also discover a wealth of wonderful Spiced Gins with a twist. For example, gins combining spices with fruits, including St Giles Spiced Orange & Cranberry Gin, Taplin & Mageean Spiced Orange Gin, and Junimperium's Winter Gin which features spices and lingonberries. Some Spiced Gins are aged in barrels or with wood from casks, such as Palma Spiced Gin, others are inspired by baking recipes such as GWYR Bara Brith Gin, and you can even get high ABV Spiced Gins such as Inspirited Navy Strength Spiced Gin(57.1% ABV).

The joy of this simple recipe is that it’s not only easy to make at home, but it’s totally flexible; the number of spices we’ve suggested in our easy recipe below are merely our own preference, so feel free to experiment with the flavours you like; so if you are not so keen on cloves, for instance, just leave them out! A great place to start is to look for Spiced Gins from distilleries and brands that you already know and enjoy, or if you're looking for something new or different, here are some key considerations to help you make the perfect choice: Leave the liquid to sit for a couple of days and then filter out any remaining sediment – and put it through a water filter jug if you want to make it even clearer.*

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Tasting notes: On the nose, notes of aromatic nutmeg and cinnamon. On the palate, sweet pumpkin intertwined with the slightest twist of citrus, followed by piney juniper. A warming autumnal spiced note lingers on the finish. Hayman’s Spiced Sloe Gin, 26.4% ABV – Hayman’s upgraded their sloe gin by adding some seasonal spices to it. Overall Zealot’s Heart, 44% ABV – This juniper-forward gin is made with a wide array of botanicals, including grains of paradise, Szechuan peppercorns, Sansho peppercorns, allspice, coriander and mace. The flavour profile is more citrus and floral, however, with sweet spice lingering throughout.