OUT THE BOX

NOW THAT’S A GOOD IDEA…BISON GRASS GIN

THE LATEST TWIST IN GIN

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT WE’D RUN OUT FLAVOURS FOR GIN, A CHESHIRE DISTILLER HAS CREATEDTHE WORLD’S FIRST BISON GRASS GIN.

WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?

Bison Grass Gin.

BISON GRASS, AS IN ŻUBRÓWKA VODKA BISON GRASS?

Precisely. Just when you thought that distillers across the globe had run out of flavours for new gins, Three Wrens in Cholmondeley, Cheshire has launched a gin flavoured with a rare grass usually used to flavour vodka in Poland.

ISN’T BISON GRASS ONLY GROWN IN POLAND?

A common misconception. Myth has it that the aromatic herb grows exclusively in Poland’s ancient Bialowieza Forest. Turns out it grows in Cheshire as well.

IN THE WILD?

No, in Three Wrens master distiller Nick Wadeson’s garden. He’s been growing it secretly since spring. Fully organic, the rare sweetgrass – proper name ‘Hierochloe odorata’ – has been propagated and replanted along the way to ensure 100% sustainability.

HOW DOES HE ADD IT TO HIS GIN?

The bison grass is vapour infused and distilled with rich Tuscan juniper berries, home-grown apple mint, lemon mint, fresh lime, grains of paradise and five other carefully selected botanicals, apparently. Then it is macerated in the finished gin slowly in order to impart more of the flavour, before the finished spirit is filtered and bottled at a respectable 41.5% ABV. Too much information?

A LITTLE. WHAT DOES IT TASTE LIKE?

It has aromas of “fresh hay and lemongrass” with “a rich hit of juniper on the palate and a long, smooth and herbaceous finish”. Each bottle comes with a strand of bison grass in it for authenticity, very much like Żubrówka in fact.

WHAT’S NICK SAYING?

“We’re delighted that Three Wrens Bison Grass Gin received a Gold medal in the recent Gin Masters 2020 competition. It offers a truly unique flavour experience, particularly as the key botanical has been so carefully grown and nurtured at our own distillery.”

HOW MUCH IS IT AND WHERE DO I GET IT?

£38.50 for a 70cl bottle, available from Three Wrens.