Winchester Distillery Winter Wassail Gin 40%

Description

Winchester Distillery Winter Wassail Gin is part of a selection of limited edition Hampshire Gins made at Winchester Distillery (of Twisted Nose Watercress Gin fame).

About Winchester Distillery

Winchester Distillery is a small, artisanal spirits producer located in the South Downs National Park, just outside of Winchester, England. The distillery was founded by ex-software developer Paul Bowler in 2014, who started out with a small 25 litre still in his garage. The company specialises in producing high-quality spirits using traditional methods, modern energy-saving equipment and botanicals sourced from the local Hampshire surroundings.

All of the gins at Winchester Distillery are distilled in a traditional copper pot still, a descendant of the alembic still, used to make batches of spirits, unlike the continuous distillation of large, more commercial column stills. Pot stills produce a very fine grade of spirit. The botanicals are gently crushed, mixed, and macerated in a pure, neutral spirit to release the oils that give the gin its characteristic flavours. The spirit and macerated botanicals are then re-distilled in the pot still, and only the heart of the distillate is used for the final bottling.

Winchester Distillery Winter Wassail Gin Botanicals

Winchester Distillery Winter Wassail Gin is a dry gin, rich with Christmas-y botanicals, including juniper (of course), festive spices (including cinnamon), fresh Bramley apple and whole cranberries, all distilled slowly in the distillery’s traditional pot still.

Seasonal Small Batch Gin

Winter Wassail Gin completes a quartet of seasonal gins alongside the “spring in a bottle” Spring Meadow Gin, the floral and blossom-y Summer Garden Gin and the autumnal, rosehip, apple, hawthorn botanicals of the Autumn Hedgerow Gin. It is only produced once a year.

What is Wassail?

This gin is named after Wassail, a traditional old English drink made with hot ale, beer, cider or wine mulled with spices and fruit like cinnamon and apple. It was traditionally drunk during “wassailing” when wassailers would visit orchards, normally on the Twelfth Night or New Year, singing and offering a toast to the apple trees to ensure a bountiful harvest for the upcoming year.