Twisted Nose Premium Dry Gin – World Gin Award Winner – 70cl Gin Bottle

Product Information

Nestled in the heart of Hampshire, they brew a range of award-winning real ales with pure Hampshire water, yeast and barley along with the finest hops. Another thing I love about working with the fresh ingredients is that no batch is exactly the same. Talking to Ron at the salad farm he explained that the watercress he had just harvested was very young; the first crop. So it would have a lovely fresh vibrant taste but wouldn’t be as firey as the watercress harvested later in the season that has had time to mature. I just think that’s so interesting and wonderful. So no excuse saying you have a bottle of the gin in the cupboard – drink up and buy a new one each season for the full flavours! Dave Myers said: " A lot of the food was quite extravagant and I think we have to be realistic that it was 18 months ago and it shows what a different place we are economically in the country. I think we would have reined it in a bit with respect to the viewers." Nestling at the western end of the South Downs Way, surrounded by the rolling Hampshire countryside, clear chalk streams and watercress beds for which the county is known, you will find Winchester Distillery, home of Twisted Nose Watercress Gin.

This glorious bespoke gin is for the Abbotts Ann Village Stores. The shop is about 3 minutes from the watercress farm and about 10 minutes from The Gin Palace so it’s super local. I love working with other small businesses to come up with an idea for their very own gin. We chat about the story behind the business and what botanicals work with that story. It wasn’t straightforward at the Abbotts Ann shop; there were plenty of options. We discussed a village apple collection which would then be made into gin as well as the watercress which was also an obvious choice being grown so close to the shop. Samples were made and committee meetings held (rather popular committee meetings as well with the offer of gin tasting being involved!) The watercress was decided on and the rest is history!The LIVE virtual tastings are carried out in the last week of the month. Please keep an eye on our socials for confirmed dates! Favourite pub: "I have two - The Yew Tree at Lower Wield is like a second staffroom for the team at the winery. Tim, the landlord, not only cooks fantastic food, but provides a wonderful atmosphere and sells our wine by the glass! The second choice is The Globe in Alresford; they serve Hattingley Valley behind the bar, have a fantastic beer garden on the lake and the staff are always friendly." Our Winchester Dry Gin™, launched on world gin day 2017 at the great hall in Winchester, is our tribute to our home city and was inspired by King Arthur's round table hanging in the hall.

Nestled in the North Hampshire Downs near the quintessentially-English village of Bentley, the vineyards cover 12 acres of what were once hop fields. This is a small batch gin distilled in a traditional copper pot still, a descendent of the alembic still, which is used to make batches of spirits, unlike the continuous distillation of large, more commercial column stills. Pot stills produce a very fine grade of spirit. The botanicals are gently crushed, mixed and macerated pure, neutral spirit to release the oils that give the gin its characteristic flavours. The spirit and macerated botanicals are then re-distilled in the pot still and only the heart of the distillate is used for the final bottling of this superb Hampshire Gin. The spirit is let down to 40% ABV with local New Forest Spring Water. Favourite pub: " The Horse & Groom, a perfect location in the heart of Alresford and great for either a pint or a family meal. Plus, it has a courtyard for those warmer evenings." Each part of creation and distillation is carefully considered resulting in an intensely herbaceous yet delicately floral gin, developing into spicy undertones and finishing with a peppery sparkle.

UK MAINLAND SHIPPING

For a deliciously rich G&T try mixing with Fever-Tree Mediterranean tonic and garnish with sprigs of Rosemary & Thyme and wheel of lemon Smooth with a surprising depth of flavour Dorset Smugglers Vodka from the Bournemouth Brewing Company distillery is made by Cristophe Mathers. After studying chemistry Cristophe became a brewer making award-winning ales at the Bournemouth Brewery. The vodka was happenstance as Cristophe explains: “A home distiller came in to see us out of the blue and asked what we did with our ullage (waste beer) at which point I gave him some and he distilled it. Voila he had created beer vodka from our old beer – and so I thought maybe I’d give it go.” And so in June 2015 the first bottle of Dorset Smugglers Vodka was released into the wild. It is the beer base that gives Smugglers Vodka a flavour quite different to anything else on the market. Cristophe describes it as “a true sipping vodka.” traditionally used by the old masters. They use classic grape varieties and traditional methods to craft award winning sparkling wines.

Fans expressed their disappointment that the series had come to an end, but it's likely to be the only one of Go Local. Si and Dave revealed on their podcast Hairy Bikers Agony Uncles that at the very least, they would do the show differently were they to make it now. The winery is home to the rare Silver-washed Fritillary Butterfly indicating that the vineyard is a healthy environment with a rich biodiversity and they have produce half a million bottles of wine a year.

Caught in glinting, swirling, blue-green glass, Twisted Nose invites you to taste with your eyes even before you’ve pulled the oak stopper to breathe in the fragrance as you pour the spirit. The taste is intensely herbaceous yet delicately floral, beginning with soft sweet citrus notes, developing spicy undertones and finishing with a peppery sparkle from the fresh watercress grown at the distillery. Wasabi is more usually found growing alongside spring fed streams in the Japanese mountains. But a Dorset or Hampshire watercress farm, with its abundance of springs that are naturally rich in minerals and nutrients, is a pretty good alternative. Since being planted here a few years ago the wasabi has thrived, although in a fine English summer these shade-loving plants sometimes require some extra shade from a thoughtfully draped cloth. Freshly grated Dorset grown wasabi is combined with six other botanicals to create Twisted Nose Wasabi Vodka. Full of flavour and spice, it’s the perfect vodka to add extra punch to a Bloody Mary.