Plymouth Gin (70cl, 41.2%) (Copy)

Plymouth Gin is an award-winning gin distilled using the same blend of seven exotic botanicals, soft Dartmoor water and pure grain alcohol since 1793. Produced in small batches only three times a week at England’s oldest operating gin distillery in the South East of England, Plymouth is an extremely smooth, creamy and full-bodied gin. The Plymouth Original Strength brand of gin is 41.2% ABV. It is different and slightly less dry than the much more common London style of gin, purportedly due to a higher than usual proportion of root ingredients, which bring a more ‘earthy’ feel to the gin as well as a softened juniper flavour.

Gin, originally being a relatively cheap alcoholic beverage, was bought by the poor and caused considerable social problems, illustrated by the engraving ‘Gin Lane’ by Hogarth in 1751. The global deployment of the British Royal led to the renown and wide consumption of the product as unlike London gin, it could be taken neat. In British India it was mixed with the tonic water consumed for the anti-malarial properties of quinine, which led to the creation of the Gin and Tonic.

Plymouth Gin was very popular in the first part of the 20th century. 23 gin based cocktail recipes in the savoy book of cocktails name Plymouth Gin specifically. It was a tradition in the Royal Navy that all newly commissioned vessels receive a “Plymouth Gin Commissioning kit”, a wooden box containing two bottles of navy strength Plymouth gin and glassware.

Plymouth Gin is traditionally used in the historic Sailor’s celebratory drink mahogany  composed of gin beaten into warmed black treacle.