Why This Bottle?
Passionate to revive the art of craft distillation in Ireland, a group of friends got together a number of years ago and the Glendalough Distillery was formed. Located just south of Dublin in the Wicklow Mountains, this distillery takes its cue from St Kevin, a 5th century monk who abandoned safety and comfort to “follow his passion and create something more meaningful in the mountains”. If there ever was an appropriate pick for a patron saint of craft distilling, Kevin’s the one!
Wild-foraged botanicals are hand-picked in the area and put into the still immediately upon picking. The picking list of includes some of the regulars (juniper, orris root, orange peel) and some more ‘off the beaten track’ ingredients (red clover, ox eye daisy, watermint, sweet cicely, and lady’s bedstraw, to name a few). This gin is non-chilled filtered, and its manageable 41% abv may result in the natural botanical oils causing some cloudiness during mixing (lousching). Not a fault…just craftiness.
The botanicals that make up Glendalough Wild Botanical Gin include liquorice root and bark, lemon, elderflower, red clover, yarrow, ox eye daisy, wild raspberry, blackberry leaves, wild rose, watermint, sweet woodruff, lemon balm, sweet cicely, lady’s bedstraw and bell heather.
Strath Panel Notes
Viscous in the glass with restrained juniper, orris, and lemon oil on the nose.
The palate gave us a raw sugarcane note with a round fruitiness reminiscent of blueberries. A complex but delicate herbaceousness backed with a nice orange flavour.
Serving suggestion: Straight up with lemon
Will It G&T? While it works well with tonic, it does mask this gin’s key feature – complexity.
