Scapegrace

I first tried Scapegrace at one of our Gin Club evenings in May last year, a Kiwi offering from our New Zealand pal. Since then, something seems to have happened and I can’t escape the stuff, which, might I add, is no bad thing at all.

Scapegrace is a19th Century English word meaning a mischievous or wayward person, especially a young person or child; a rascal. Definitely one for me then!

Previously known as Rogue Society, this delicious New Zealand gin is made with 12 botanicals from around the world (juniper, coriander, nutmeg, cardamom, lemon peel, orange peel, orris, cinnamon, cassia, angelica, clove and liquorice) and water from New Zealand’s Southern Alps, using a whiskey still which was found in an abandoned shed.

I was thrilled to receive a bottle of this for my birthday, and from an aesthetic point of view, it’s definitely one to remember when looking for a gift to buy a gin loving friend. The bottle is stunning, sleek and dark in colour, with a silver name plaque on the front. A style which has taken influence from the traditional Genever bottles of 200 years ago. I must also point out the seal on their bottle, it bares part of a quote from Edgar Allan Poe, which I think is really rather fabulous…

“I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity”

For those of you who are interested, the quote continues…

…During these fits of absolute unconsciousness, I drank – God only knows how often or how much. As a matter of course, my enemies referred the insanity to the drink, rather than the drink to the insanity.”

Edgar Allan Poe

A quote which I’m sure you’ll agree this is rather fitting for a bottle of gin.

I find Scapegrace Gin to be very traditional in it’s flavour, which leads with juniper and spice and is then followed by a cleansing tang of lemon. Scapegrace is a very clean, smooth gin, which I can enjoy neat, but it is absolutely cracking teamed with tonic and a slice of orange or mixed up in a cocktail.