Falstaff got an exclusive insight into the birthplace of the legendary gin.
»Almost nobody wanted to drink gin in 1999,« recalls Leslie Gracie – until they radically updated the recipe with rose and cucumber. Hendrick's gin then created a whole raft of new recipes in its wake. Falstaff got an exclusive insight into the birthplace of this quiet revolution.
A distillery where a tortoise does its rounds is unusual enough. But here, in place of the typical high-visibility jackets and safety shoes, you will find unicycles leaning against colourful hedges in the Scottish midday sun. The contrast between the »Gin Palace« of the global brand Hendrick's and its owner's vast distillery next door couldn’t be starker. The Grain Whisky Distillery of William Grant & Sons produces 100 million litres per year and is a gigantic industrial operation. A few meters further on, on the other hand, a wooden castle gate opens to the ringing of an old-fashioned brass bell: a botanical fairytale castle in the Scottish Lowlands, in a small town named Girvan.
»Who is it? « a voice enquires through a high peephole. Lesley Gracie lets guests puzzle a moment longer before she steps off her stepladder, opening the vast portal with a dry »I'm not two-metre-fifty tall!«. Petite in fact, with her white hair worn short at the front but tied in a near knee-length braid behind, the gin queen is ready to talk about the gin she herself created 23 years ago. It’s a rare opportunity - Hendrick's doesn’t have a visitor centre despite the »Gin Palace« being spectacular to say the least.
Inside, the most northerly banana trees in Scotland can be found living comfortably in the two greenhouses, as can a stuffed cassowary which quietly eyes the afternoon tea that Falstaff is sharing with Lesley. The greenhouses are not just for show however: this master distiller experiments with their various contents for new recipes. »Unfortunately, the bananas never made it past the chocolate cake sauce,« she laughs mischievously. If they had made the grade as a gin flavouring, aka »botanical«, they would now be housed in Girvan's spice warehouse fighting for space with the massive 25 kilo sacks of Macedonian juniper.
Eleven »dry« botanicals have been used for Hendrick's since Charles Gordon, the owner at the time, demanded a new gin. Its global success, evidenced by the current annual production of 12 million litres, was no foregone conclusion however. »It took off slowly at first,« Gracie recalls, after the decision in 1999 to add the two new flavours: »What could be more English than rose gardens and cucumber sandwiches?« It didn’t even have a real sales launch, now the norm for new Hendrick's offerings worldwide, she says. »Our sales people would go round the hotels and restaurants and say, 'We've got this new gin’.... And it was bottled in a dark apothecary bottle when everyone expected clear, tall bottles. «
Today, this radical look sets the trend; »only last month, a supermarket was sued because of an imitation with a diamond logo and a pharmacist's bottle«. What has remained a constant however is the elaborate production method using two stills, a »Bennett still« from 1868 (!) and a »Carter-Head still« from 1948. The eleven aromatic ingredients are distilled in 96% alcohol in the first still, and the same botanicals are also used in the spirit basket through which the alcohol vapour passes in the »Carter-Head still«. These two distillates – now enriched with cucumber and rose - are then blended in a secret ratio to create the final winning product.
This is how an original »London Dry Gin« (with nothing added after distillation) becomes a »Distilled Gin«. And Henrick’s is one that has become just as influential for its decidedly British - read eccentric - marketing as for its original taste. This undeniable peculiarity, as their advertising puts it, is nicely illustrated at dinner with Gracie when brand ambassador Adam Templeton appears as the brand’s scantily-clad mermaid »Neptunia« complete with full beard and reciting poetry!
For the spirits nerds amongst us, a deconstructed tasting is highly illuminating. The two individual distillates from the 1860 and 1948 stills are served in an 80% original state. While the herbs and juniper from the Bennett still prove earthy and spicy, the batch from the Carter-Head literally sings with fruitiness - orange together with a hint of chamomile. »You'd never believe it's the same thing,« nods the gin queen. And she invented the fine balance of the two after all.
The resurgence of the »gin & tonic« owes itself to pioneers like Hendrick's and »Bombay Sapphire«, which was marketed almost simultaneously (1998) by Bacardi. The inventor of Hendrick's is thrilled that the gin boom shows no sign of waning: »New distilleries are coming up all the time, so people obviously want to drink gin.« It's only when it comes to flavour that she is takes a harder line: »A gin that tastes of rhubarb is not a gin,« says Gracie. Which raises the question of how the »gin queen« herself likes her long drink? The answer is naturally »botanical« served with a clever alternative to tonic: »I like an elderflower cordial and soda with the gin,« says Gracie, »because the quinine in tonic water can sometimes be too much!«
