Again, I have a chance to stand outside my usual wheelhouse and try something besides beer that’s been sent to me for comment. Boy, maybe I should extend my beat into wines and spirits. But that would mean going into more subjects than I could ever hope to master.
Especially in the subject of gin, a spirit I do enjoy, but I have not presumed to become discriminating in it. But here we have a sample bottle of Monkey 47, a “Schwarzwald Dry Gin” as in “Black Forest.” It’s distilled from molasses in Germany, and distributed here by Pernod Richard USA.
The promotional material sent along with the bottle builds from the story of one Montgomery Collins, an Royal Air Force veteran who retired to Germany’s Black Forest in 1951 and opened a guest house. There he developed his own gin recipe, using local juniper and other unique ingredients. The recipe was rediscovered when Collins’ guest house was being renovated, and a new distillery was established in 2008. The name came from Collins many references to an egret monkey named Max, whom he sponsored in the rebuilding of the Berlin Zoo, and the 47 botanicals used in its production.
So along with the usual juniper, coriander and grains of paradise, the liquor has lingonberry, spruce, lavender, blackberry and more, some from Germany, others sourced from around the world.
Under the cork, there’s a scent of mixed herbs, some that might go into a medicinal balm. Of course, I dug out my proper shot glass from somewhere in the kitchen, a souvenir of Atlantic City from loooong ago. A warming alcohol nose that a glass allows to open up. I wouldn’t call it “spicy” or “herbal,” but a nice mix of both, with some fruit juice along the side. The alcohol bite is pretty big, although after the first sip, I’m thinking there is some spice, some pepper or a close relative, after all. A citrus note follows afterward, maybe some vanilla. My experience of premium gins is limited, but this is different, and more of an eye-opener, from other gins I’ve had.
From here we try it out as a mixer. They sent a booklet with some recipes for cocktails. I may not have Creme de Mûre handy, but at least I have lime juice to make a gimlet. The recipe: 2 parts Monkey 47, .5 part lime juice, just a dash of agave. I cut carbs by using agave instead of the .25 part simple syrup, about half of what’s called for, since it’s very sweet.
Here the lime can bowl over the gin, although I do get a hint of botanicals in the nose. Frankly, though, I find that spirits with a distinctive flavor get wasted when used as a cocktail mixer. For that I prefer something neutral like a vodka, or maybe a sharp note like tequila.
A gin and tonic played out well. It “opened” nicely with a slight swirl of line juice and some ice.
I’d be experimenting some more, but I somehow left my draft of this article sitting around for far too long. Time to post and just say I had a pleasant experience with my first bottle of higher-end gin.
