Beefeater 24 London Dry Gin, 70 cl

Product Information

DESMOND PAYNE: The answer is in the question – it must first of all be neutral. There is a different character, rather than flavour, from different base materials but I do not want to taste what the spirit was made from. I want the taste to come from juniper and other botanicals. For Beefeater we use grain spirit produced from wheat. years, eight gins, one Lifetime Achievement Award from The Gin Guild, and now an MBE, Beefeater’s Master Distiller Desmond Payne still isn’t ready to put his feet up. We chat to ‘Mr Beefeater’ about spending five decades in the gindustry… Sencha is the most popular type of tea in Japan, renowned for its vegetal and grassy flavor. Chinese green tea is sweeter and a bit brighter. Beefeater 24 gets its name from the twenty-four hour maceration time that its twelve botanicals undergo. While many of the botanicals are familiar to Beefeater drinkers, the two tea botanicals set it apart.

The citrus is a bit more bright and at the fore. Seville Orange zest lends Beefeater 24 a note that reminds me of Chase’s Seville Orange Gin. Aroma: Strikingly similar to Beefeater Gin. Citrus, juniper and the slightest hint of licorice root beneath it.Let’s talk alcohol: The gins produced by Beefeater vary in alcohol content. So much so that some consumers were disappointed in a recent decision to decrease the ABV. Beefeater used to bottle its gin at 94 proof in the U.S. Now, its bottled gin is sold at 88 proof. THE GIN GUILD: Beefeater is such an iconic and recognised brand, what makes it different to all of the other gins on the market?

DESMOND PAYNE: About as long as a piece of string. Beefeater 24 took me the best part of 18 months but I learned a lot during that process. First of all, you need to get inspiration from what can be done differently, especially in the use of new botanicals.DESMOND PAYNE: Many highlights, but mostly during my time at Beefeater. The development of Beefeater 24 is one of my proudest achievements, along with the various other gins I have introduced since. It is such a terrific time to be involved in gin production. There is a real excitement and buzz around the category. Beefeater’s sustainable efforts saved 410 tons of plastic within the first months of release, a number equivalent to that of 17 million plastic water bottles. Beefeater’s Burrough’s Reserve is a limited-edition, oak-rested gin that is distilled using James Burrough’s original copper “Still Number 12.” The most recent release is rested in red and white Bordeaux wine barrels. With distilleries now demonstrating a wide range of creative expressions of gin, bartenders are uber-excited about using this spirit in their drinks. So much so, that when we asked drinks professionals around the U.S. for their best recommendations for gins, Beefeater came up — a lot.

In case you haven’t noticed, every Beefeater gin uses a select number of botanicals. The select London dry gin uses nine botanicals. Beefeater’s flavored gin, such as 24, uses 12 botanicals. Further, the blood orange and pink gin use 10 botanicals. But numbers aside, where this distillery’s love for flora is is its botanical room, where its ingredients are stored. I know, so obvious. Along with its fruit-flavored expressions that are likely destined for spritzes, additional bottlings include Beefeater 24, marketed as Beefeater’s superior dry gin. The 24 refers to the 24 hours of steeping the (12) botanicals, which include Chinese and Japanese teas. DESMOND PAYNE: I started in the wine trade, I first worked in the cellars at Harrods learning from the bottom up. I applied for a job with Seager, Evans & Co. who were wine shippers, but who also had a gin distillery at Deptford in South East London.The overall gustatory sensation is medium complex, rather mellow and mild in character, whilst not overly intense or pungent whatsoever. Given that this is 45% alcohol by volume, the gin goes down smoothly creamy. The sheer mixture of flavours and aromas from the botanicals captivated me. There seemed such a wider range than appeared in wine. What was a startling contemporary style gin upon its launch now comes across as rather traditional. But that’s no criticism of Beefeater 24. DESMOND PAYNE: All gins are different in some respect or other. It all depends on what the recipe of botanicals is – that’s where the flavour comes from, and how the gin is produced – that’s where the character comes from.