A wee while ago I was contacted by Bancon Homes to ask if I would like to try their gin…I must confess, I was rather confused at first. A quick google and I found lots of information about houses but nothing about gin. Curiosity levels piqued, (and because no one in their right mind should ever turn down gin,) I replied with a very definite “Yes please.” So, to find out a little bit more.
After sponsoring the gin tent at Banchory Beer Festival last year, Bancon Homes felt inspired and decided to branch out with their very own limited edition bespoke gin. (I would be interested to find out how much of the inspiration was fuelled by our favourite tipple.) Their idea being that a bottle will be given as a moving in gift to buyers who move into a Bancon Homes property, rather than the usual hamper…a nice bonus for us gin drinkers.
They teamed up with Simon Fairclough to develop an exclusive gin recipe. Simon Fairclough is a name which may already be familiar to you as he is the managing director of Glenshee Craft Distillers in Perthshire, who produce Persie Gin.
It was all sounding very promising that something rather delicious was en route and I was very excited when my bottle arrived. The Bancon Gin is created using the London Dry process. This does not mean that it has to be made in London, what this basically means is that the gin has to adhere to a set of rules, the biggie being that it can’t have any colouring or flavouring added after the distillation process. In the case of The Bancon Gin, the only thing added after the distillation process is water from Persie Distillery’s private supply of natural water from the local hills.
Hubby, was a little more dubious than me about The Bancon Gin, and quite sceptical about whether it would actually be any good. The gin arrived complete with it’s own little information booklet, outlining the concept, the botanicals and also some serving suggestions and after reading through, I was fairly convinced he would be won over. Only one way to be sure though…tasting time!
I was really impressed with The Bancon Gin, very smooth with a gentle warming spice, as it says in the tasting notes. I do worry when I do the tasting bit, just in case I don’t taste what I’m supposed to, but we’re all different, so surely we’re all going to taste things a little differently. I didn’t so much get the minty freshness with a hint of ice cream, but instead felt that real citrus notes came through on the palate. It made a really delicious G&T and I went for an orange garnish rather than the pink grapefruit, which is very unusual for me, but I felt the orange would be great with the citrus flavour I’d tasted. I also made The Bancon Negroni, which I really enjoyed. As I’ve said before, I always found a Negroni to be a little too pokey, whereas Hubby loves them, but interestingly, when it came to finishing off the drinks I chose the Negroni and he went for the G&T.
With only 300 50cl bottles being produced, how do you get your hands on a bottle? Do you actually have to buy a house?! Well thankfully the answer is no. There is currently a competitions running where entrants can win the very first bottle of The Bancon Gin, which will be labelled with that sought after number 1 and personally signed by Simon Fairclough. Now, in my opinion, that’d be a pretty awesome bottle to add to the collection! To enter the competition, just click on the link and head over to Win The Gin on the Bancon Homes website. Get there quick though, the competition closes on 31st March. Perhaps if there is enough interest they can be persuaded to make some more, I would certainly buy a bottle of the stuff!!
Gin Obsessions 