THAT BOUTIQUE-Y GIN COMPANY

twist and tweak and blur the lines of what we know. So, when TBGC partnered with Conker Gin and rum legend Pete Holland, both based in Dorset, the resulting gin makes an awful lot of sense. Mojito Gin is a hybrid of gin and rum made with a molasses base as opposed to wheat and distilled with mint and lime for a bright, zesty, cool gin that is great for sipping on a hot day. It was important for TBGC to keep the input local. Conker created the gin, and Pete tested the samples, inputting feedback and suggestions until the gin was ready for production.

I asked Rupert Holloway, founder of Conker, to tell me a little bit about the process. “We were honoured to be approached, to be honest, ” he said. “TBGC had previously collaborated with a long list of distilleries we too – something we enjoy here! How do you in a distilled gin? No mean feat. Luckily, this collaboration had a third strand to its bow in the form of Peter Holland, known locally in Bournemouth as ‘Mr Rum’ and rum guru at the That Boutique-y Rum Company.

“It was an exciting R&D process exploring the Mojito cocktail and how best to bring this across through the distillation of botanicals. We landed on swapping out our wheat spirit for a molasses spirit, instantly lifting the gin to the heady, sweeter ester notes found in rum. We then distilled this spirit with huge quantities of fresh lime peel and mint to create a wonderful celebration

In April 2017, a gin summit was held in Washington, DC by the American Distilling Institute. To commemorate this prestigious event, bringing distillers together from around the world, a gin was created to celebrate the local DC distilling scene. Five local distilleries each created their own distillates, which were then blended to make

Alex Laufer, co-founder and CEO of District

Opening pages: A selection of the That Boutique-y Gin Company portfolio These pages, from bottom left: TBGC has partnered with distilleries including Conker Gin; Distilling, from the outside

Distillers tells me,

“David Smith approached us in November 2016 to produce a gin in time for the gin summit. He asked each distillery to provide a juniper distillate, then we each chose one or two botanical distillates to bring to the blend. We distilled Appalachian allspice and angelica. New Columbia Distillers distilled rosemary. Joseph Magnus distilled fresh oro blanco grapefruit. District Distilling distilled hops and tarragon.

“We set equal percentages of each juniper distillate and tasted through broad ranges of percentages of each other distillate before setting the blend. “The base distillate compositions were different in each case. We and District Distilling distilled our own rye bases. New Columbia distilled a wheat base. Joseph Magnus and Republic Restoratives use corn NGS [neutral grain spirit]. The distillates were blended, proofed down and bottled – with everyone’s help –at our distillery. ”

DC Gin is a remarkable snapshot of what was happening in DC at the time: a soft, slinky nose of creamy citrus and light

It brings a unique opportunity to connect with somewhere over a great distance...

and rye bread on the palate, followed by then, towards the end, the oro blanco pops back with earthy angelica and a peek of rose and violet. It brings a unique opportunity to connect with somewhere over a great distance, and now a time in the past, with some of the distilleries that contributed no longer in operation. “I love the analogy of a snapshot, ” explains Alex. “Often when I talk about distilling, I liken the process of distilling, especially how the spirit changes coming off the still or how the spirit matures in a barrel, to a movie, changing from bottle is a still photograph. In some ways to the craft of distilling, but as with most of its parts. ”

Back in 2019, Masons of Yorkshire began working with TBGC on Smouldering Heights Gin, an ode to the annual burning of heathland in Yorkshire to renew the earth and encourage new growth of the area’s been developed, and the gin was in production, when disaster struck.

was an enormous shock to the community. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but owners Karl and Cathy Mason watched their business burn down in a day. The Masons and their team had the enormous and potentially overwhelming task of cleaning up and starting again. With the support of the community, they were able to do this and now acknowledge the event with their own Phoenix gin. Smouldering Heights was still released through TBGC, and that spooky prediction of events has been immortalised fruity notes with a lingering hint of earthy smoke in the background. Its botanicals include beech- and peat-smoked malt, heather, and Szechuan pepper.

In 2018, I attended a launch party in London where TBGC was releasing a series of gins in collaboration with fragrance specialist Lizzie Ostrom from Odette Toilette. She worked with the team to create four gins: Fresh Rain, based on the idea of petrichor (the smell of rain falling on dry earth); Beware of the Woods, based on a primordial forest; Dead King, using aromatics that are used in embalming; and Big Dipper, capturing the essence of a fairground, everything from dinky donuts to the grease used to keep rides limber for the wailing thrill-seeker. At the end of the event, attendees were given a goody bag including a box of roll-on scent bottles, each containing a gin to roll on the wrist like a perfume. It’s a pretty neat concept, right? But of course, they went one further, working with artist Phillipa Staunton who produced a series of paintings that used synaesthesia – where the brain connects the experiences of one sense to another – to express the gins in colour.

These pages, from bottom left: The stills at Masons of Yorkshire ’ s new distillery; Cathy and Karl Mason; Jon Hillgren of Hernö Gin

It’s all good being creative, but how good are the products? A clumsily rendered pasta elephant could well stay up on the fridge for years, but a clumsy gin is a one-time purchase. These gins generally come out the same standard as everything that went in, and it’s top-notch stuff – so much so, that TBGC’s collaboration with Hernö, Swedish Rose Gin, not only won a gold outstanding at the International Wine and Spirit Competition, but went on to pick up the competition’s London Dry Gin trophy in 2017.

Creating can be exhausting and TBGC is a little quieter nowadays. There are still a fair few of its releases up for grabs online and there is always the possibility of something new coming out down the line. But for now, it seems that there is a little pause from Other distilleries are picking up the baton. You could say that ideas may eventually run out, but with all the wonderful minds in the gin industry, I’m not sure that’s coming any time soon. Like the colliding of atoms, molecules and compounds, every new input creates a whole host of possibilities and eventual outcomes.

BY AARON KNOLL

UNITED WE STAND

The founders of the US Gin Association are committed to building a community and a platform for the country ’ s gin distillers

Melissa and Lee Katrincic are the co-founders of North Carolina ’ s Durham Distillery. Founded in 2015, gin has always been its focus. The distillery produces Conniption American Dry Gin, in addition to a Navy Strength Gin, a barrel-aged gin and several canned cocktails including a gin and tonic.

But most recently Melissa and Lee made headlines by founding the US Gin Association to help gin producers band together to advance the category stateside. We sat down with Melissa Katrincic to learn a bit about the association and their plans for American gin.