Winchester Distillery Winter Wassail Gin 40%

Description

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

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. Winter Wassail Gin is small batch, micro-distilled Hampshire gin only made once an year.

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 produciing high quality spirits using traditional methods, modern energy-saving equipment and using botanicals sourced from the local Hampshire surrounds. 

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 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 is 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.

What is Wassail?

This gin is named after wassail, a traditional old English drink made with hot ale, beer, cider or wine mulled with spice 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.