Tassel Gin #7

I still need some more gin for Christmas presents. The last one was pretty good, and some of it has been drunk. I thought I'd try a version without the flowery additions and cut back a little on the fennel. The reintroduction of use of the column in the set-up was good as it helped avoid too many tails. So this was my recipe this time.

Botanical	Last Time	This Time
Juniper	30g	30g
Coriander	12g	12g
Angelica	3g	2g
Cardamom	2g	2g
Lemon Peel	6g	5g
Orange Peel	6g	5g
Fennel	4g	3.5g
Peppercorns	2g	2g
Cassia	1g	1g
Rose	1.5g	-
Ginger	1g	1g
Grains of Paradise	1.5g	1g
Elderflower	1g	-

As before, I infused the botanicals overnight in 1L of vodka and then topped up to 1.7L, the capacity of my still before adding the column and alembic hood.

My infusion in the jar.

Starting the distillation run.

The result? After blending my first 9 jars with 1/2 of the tenth, I was left with 780ml @73% ABV. I then added 544ml filtered water to end up with 1324ml @ 43% ABV. That gave me three 250ml bottles for presents, a 500ml bottle for us to add to the drinks cabinet and a bit more to taste. 

The verdict? Almost indistinguishable from the commercial Opihr gin we are drinking at the moment (which is my favourite), but perhaps slightly more cassia and slightly less cardamom comes through in mine. That will be my next tweak then, I think, but I'm starting to get a fairly consistent taste that I like. I hope others like it too. Now to do the labels.