Over the summer holidays I met up with a work friend who had just got back from a long weekend in Cornwall. “I’ve got a little pressie for you” she said, with a telling glint in her eye…
There are so many gins being launched these days I must say I am quite frequently distracted by the exciting new offerings which appear on the market, so much so that I forget about some of the greats and Tarquin’s Cornish Gin is definitely that. Crafted on the wild Cornish coast and launched in early 2013, Tarquin’s is distilled with 12 botanicals including almonds, fresh orange, lemon and grapefruit peel and violets.
Pop open the bottle and you’re greeted with a fresh citrus aroma with a touch of pine and a hint of floral. It’s something quite fabulous. Then the really fun part comes, the tasting! Citrusy and fresh, with a touch of sweetness and some gentle warming spice at the end. This really is a fabulous gin and one which leaves me wanting more, and more…and more.
I deemed this miniature far too beautiful to open, so instead headed home to rummage through my collection…I was sure there was a bigger bottle of Tarquin’s in there somewhere! Bottle rediscovered, one gin down and disaster struck…
What was I to do? Open the miniature? But it was so cute and beautiful…Then, in some wonderful twist of fate and while I was deliberating my options, I received a message through from Tarquin’s, which read
“Hey Natalie!
We wanted to reach out and send a little bit of Cornish Sunshine your way – our beautiful new custom bottles are here and we’d love to gift one to you!”
This is the stuff which dreams are made of! Fast forward a couple of weeks and I arrived home to find a box on the doorstep emblazoned with the familiar emblem of South West distillery…my care package had finally arrived!
With a helping paw from Juniper (our puppy) the box was opened and it’s contents revealed. I was honestly quite humbled, it contained not one, but two bottles of gin AND a couple of gorgeous drinking cups.
I must say the new look bottle is absolutely stunning and is so appealing on both visual and sensory levels, perfectly capturing and celebrating Cornish heritage. Their once clear bottle has been replaced by one of pale blue frosted sea glass, waves have been embossed at the bottom and the image of a puffin sits proudly just below the bottle neck. A new, more delicate label wraps around the body of the bottle, but it is still hand signed with batch tasting notes. Thankfully their iconic dripping paraffin wax seal, stamped with the puffin logo also remains. One more little hidden gem remains to be discovered, which may be easily missed by some…the bottom of the bottle bares the words “Yeghes Da!” and wishes you a Cornish cheers!
Although the bottle and label may be new, its content is still that same, delicious Cornish goodness which I described earlier and utterly adore!
So the only thing left to do was to taste the new limited edition Rhubarb and Raspberry Gin. Using the well known Tarquin’s Cornish Gin as a base, it is then infused with rhubarb and raspberries which give the gin it’s beautiful deep pink hue. As soon as the bottle is opened the raspberry explodes out of it, the delicious tartness of the aroma took me straight back to my Gran’s kitchen when I was little and she was making raspberry jam. There is something almost medicinal about the flavour, it’s warm and soothing, with just a hint of spice, exactly what I’m going to need now the nights are drawing in. I think this would make a great warm gin cocktail…that’s definitely going to be my next weekend project.
If you’ haven’t yet stumbled across Tarquin’s I would highly recommend taking a peek at their range of gins, which are very reasonably priced. Not only is their Tarquin’s Cornish Dry absolutely stunning, but they do some pretty incredible limited edition gins too, the Rhubarb and Raspberry Gin being just one of five currently featured on their website.
Yeghes Da!
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