Opihr Gin Spices of the Orient - 70 cl

Product Information

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. Nutmeg gives a lengthy finish, although not necessarily a nutty one. It has a slight warmth on the palate, yet the taste is earthy and a little bit sweet. Cascarilla bark is a warming and bitter botanical and quite a unique one too. More commonly, it can be found in many Italian bitters and vermouths. Colombo Seven, 43.1% ABV – Based on a recipe from 70 years ago, it includes Sri Lankan cinnamon bark, curry leaves and ginger root. A key variation in Spiced Gin is in the spices in them, with every distillery having their own combination and recipe. If you're looking for a warming winter spiced gin, recipes including cloves, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon will be right up your street (and be sure to read our Christmas Gin Guide for some festive options too). For flavour profiles inspired by Asian gastronomy, look for gins featuring start anise, Kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass, cassia bark and cardamom. Gins prominently featuring ginger, peppercorns or chilli may give you a spicier and more fiery flavour profile, while gins focused on cinnamon, cassia bark and cardamom will fit the bill nicely if you're looking for something with softer, aromatic spice.

Darnley’s Spiced Gin, 42.7% ABV – This is an earthy and spiced gin. The botanicals include cloves, grains of paradise, cinnamon, ginger, cassia and nutmeg. Four Pillars Spiced Negroni Gin, 43.8% ABV – A gin designed with Negroni in mind. Made using Tasmanian pepperberry leaf, cinnamon, grains of paradise, blood orange and ginger. Hapusa Gin, 43% ABV – This vibrant Indian gin is made using spices such as cardamom, coriander seeds, ginger and turmeric. Local mango helps to balance these spices. Credit: Hapusa GinAs 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). 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.

The artisans at Poetic License ended up making a whole selection of delicious gins and liqueurs, crafted with Mark’s bold ethos in mind. Taste the gin again and if you’re happy, filter out all the botanicals using a sieve. If there’s still some sediment left, use some muslin or a coffee filter to strain again. Hrafn Gin Thought & Memory, 45% ABV – Fresh and juicy with a warming finish. Botanicals include mandarin peel, coriander, cubeb pepper, orris root and more. You can enhance the spiciness with flavoured tonic waters. Fever-Tree Aromatic tonic is made using vanilla, ginger, pimento berries, angostura bark and cardamom. It offers gentle spiciness together with citrus and vanilla sweetness. Vanilla complements a wide variety of spices beautifully. Alternatively, their clementine tonic has a delicate but lovely balance of sweet clementine and cinnamon. Use when you want to add a little sweetness to your G&T. Talking about vanilla, try Luscombe Drinks (one of my all-time favourite mixer ranges) Madagascar Vanilla Soda next time you make a spiced gin fizz.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. Bake them into a dessert: You can use the gin-soaked plums as an ingredient in a baked dessert, such as a plum clafoutis or a plum upside-down cake. You can also add more or less sugar based on how sweet and syrupy you want your gin liqueur to come out - the more sugar you add, the more treacly your liqueur will become (all the better for drinking neat or over ice!).

I’m sure I have forgotten some great spiced gins from the list – there simply is a wide range to choose from. It is good to remember that not all spiced gins have a super-spicy, aromatic or dry flavour profile. Many brands use a selection of floral botanicals or a range of citrus to lift up the overall taste. One of the first spiced gins I tried (a long time ago) had a strong cardamom flavour, which I found too intense and it put me off the flavour category until I realised there is much more to the spiced flavour range. 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. 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. Poetic License is a small-batch distillery in the North East of England, and just so happens to be behind some of the most exciting spirits on the market right now.Use them as a topping: You can chop the gin-soaked plums and use them as a topping for desserts such as ice cream, cheesecake, or pound cake. Portobello Road Gin, 42% ABV – This one is more classic London Dry-style gin, but includes botanicals such as coriander, orris root, liquorice root, cassia bark and nutmeg. Cassia bark is similar to cinnamon and this often leads to confusion between the two botanicals in both taste and texture. Cassia bark adds a sweet flavour with an extra peppery punch.