A blend of superb exclusively copper pot-distilled brandy with real character and depth of flavor mingled in a unique, modern American style. Small batch distillation of superior, highly aromatic wine selected for exceptional quality.
Non-Chill Filtered For An Authentic, Uncorrupted Natural Flavor and natural color. Some Cloudiness, faint suspension or light sediment may be apparent at colder temperatures. Our ambition is to retain the integrity of the distillate with minimal intervention, with our signature mouth-feel and definitive aroma.
Matured in Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey and medium-char American white oak barrels for balance, complexity and a polished, velvety finish. The approximate blend is 90% Kentucky Bourbon Barrels & 10% New American Oak.
Tasting notes Appearance: golden, caramelized oats, darkening harvest sun. Aroma: caramel, honey, cherry wood, honeysuckle with a hint of melon and subtle floral bouquet. Taste: luscious, ever so slightly oily & viscous. Honey, toasted oak, tobacco, dried stone fruit, feisty spice on the mid-palate.
What Gary Says
DISCLAIMER: I’m a whisk(e)y enthusiast, and not familiar with Brandy (so read at your own risk!) Nose: Honey, fruity with cherry, apples and kiwi, floral with subtle notes of tobacco. Palate: Sweet with honey, cherry, melon pepper (and maybe a bit of chili) spice. Finish: Moderate in length, damp with fading fruit and pepper spice. Comments: Of the three samples included in the Flaviar tasting box (The Brandy Bunch Vol. 2), this had the most complexity – but it still left me wanting more. Which might just mean I don’t care for brandy.
Tom Cat Gin is an expedition into uncharted territories. Once distilled, we age the gin in new American oak barrels in search of a bolder expression. The robust character of the new oak barrel mingles with the coniferous quality of the juniper, yielding an enticing aroma. A touch of raw honey leaves this revolutionary spirit remarkably approachable, whether drinking neat or in a cocktail. When the world called for whiskey, we answered resolutely with gin.
What Gary Says
DISCLAIMER: I’m a whisk(e)y enthusiast, and not familiar with Gin (so read at your own risk!) Nose: Honey, soft pepper, oak, lime, subtle juniper. Palate: Thick mouthfeel, raw honey, caramel, pine, pepper and clove. Finish: Moderately long with honey. Comments: Of the three gin samples, this was by far the sweetest, although not very complex. As a bourbon fan though, I did enjoy the sweetness and parallels.
A unique London Dry Gin made using hand-picked botanicals, including spicy cubeb berries from Indonesia, cardamom and Tellicherry black pepper from India and coriander from Morocco.
The heritage of OPIHR Spices of the Orient Gin is firmly rooted in the ancient Spice Route. Traditionally merchants would travel thousands of miles along the route, trading exotic spices and botanicals from distant lands.
OPIHR Spices of the Orient Gin is crafted with a selection of exotic hand-picked botanicals, carefully chosen by OPIHR’s Master Distiller, including spicy Cubeb berries from Indonesia, Black Pepper from India and Coriander from Morocco.
The botanicals in Opihr Gin make the journey to their final destination, the oldest distillery in England, where quality gin has been traditionally distilled, using the same London Dry Gin method, since 1761. Here the botanicals are married with fine English spirit to produce an exotic oriental spiced gin.
Our BOTANICALS Spanish Orange Peel | Turkish Cumin | Turkish Grapefruit Peel | German Angelica Root | Indian Cardamom | Indian Ginger | Indian Tellicherry Black Pepper | Italian Juniper | Malaysian Cubeb Berries | Moroccan Coriander
This intense, exotic spiced gin exudes the character of the Orient, incorporating hand-picked botanicals from along the Ancient Spice Route.
Aroma: A rich and robust gin with a smooth perfume and sharp bursts of citrus. Key notes of cumin and cardamom provide a warm, earthy background balanced with grapefruit peel. Taste: Soft camphor, some sweetness and Oriental spices create a warm mouth feel that lingers but does not increase intensity.
What Gary Says
DISCLAIMER: I’m a whisk(e)y enthusiast, and not familiar with Gin (so read at your own risk!) Nose: Coriander, subtle lime, hints of carpet cleaner. Palate: Rich mouthfeel with citrus zest, pepper. Finish: Short with pepper and lemon. Comments: The nose on this is really subtle, while the palate has more zip. By comparison with the Cotswolds Dry Gin, this was much less complex (and of the three samples, was my least favorite). Not off putting necessarily, but didn’t excite me in any way.
Our Cotswolds Dry Gin is a delectable blend of nine carefully-considered botanicals, including local lavender from nearby Snowshill and freshly-peeled pink grapefruit and lime zest. Due to the unusually high volume of botanicals we use, our gin causes a beautiful pearlescent cloud to appear when ice or tonic is added. To make the ultimate Cloudy G&T, mix with premium tonic water, lots of ice and garnish with a bay leaf and a slice of pink grapefruit.
The finest ingredients Juniper berries, coriander seed and angelica root form the classic foundation for our London Dry-style Gin. We then add Cotswold lavender from nearby Snowshill and bay leaves. The citrus element comes from freshly-peeled lime and pink grapefruit zest – unusually we use fresh peels rather than dried because of the greater quantity of essential oils. This entails peeling several hundred limes and grapefruits per week, by hand! The final botanicals are cardamom seed and black peppercorn, to give a hint of spice.
Lovingly crafted Quantity matters. We put about 10x the average volume of botanicals used to make most premium gins in our copper pot still. This process creates the richest possible flavours and mouthfeel due to the high proportion of essential oils and botanical extract. These flavour-rich oils are the reason our gin goes from clear to cloudy when tonic or ice is added. The pearlescent glow, also known as a ‘louche’, happens because we choose not to chill-filter our gin to remove the oils as this would reduce the rich flavour and mouthfeel.
What do we mean by purity? It’s what we throw away that makes what we keep so special. The slower we run the stills and the more heads and tails (unpleasant beginning and end of the run) we discard, the purer the gin will taste. Our ‘heart cut’ is rested for 5 days to allow the flavours to marry. The only thing added before bottling is demineralised water to reduce the strength. This process, known as ‘single-shot distillation’, creates a superior gin. We never ‘stretch’ the batch by adding more neutral spirit (known as ‘multi-shot’), so the gin we distil is the gin you drink.
Tasting notes Nose: Fresh notes of grapefruit with earthy coriander backed-up by sweet, piney juniper. A hint of perfumed Cotswold lavender. Palate: Clean, pine juniper spice with fresh citrussy grapefruit. A touch of dryness from the angelica root, with eucalyptus notes from bay leaf. Subtle lime and lavender. Finish: Clean and balanced. Juniper, citrus and some cooling notes from bay leaf and cardamom.
What Gary Says
DISCLAIMER: I’m a whisk(e)y enthusiast, and not familiar with Gin (so read at your own risk!) Nose: Lavender, lime, pink grapefruit, botanicals, pine and a hint of juniper. Palate: Lime, lavender, pink grapefruit and a bit of pepper. Finish: Short to moderate in length, with lime and grapefruit. Comments: Usually the nose and palate of spirits are similar, but I was struck by how nearly perfectly aligned they were in this case. I haven’t been a fan of gin; not sure what I had tried before but it left me feeling like gin was just a juniper bomb (probably how someone who hadn’t ever had whisky and tried Laphroaig might think all whisky is like chewing on peat!) This was a refreshing education. I still get this “cleaning product” vibe, but that isn’t meant to be negative (again – Laphroaig has notes of bandaids and earthy peat, which wouldn’t sound appealing – but I love it!) This was the first of three samples I tried, and was the most complex and my favorite.
(Below notes are from K&L Wine’s website) This single barrel of eau-de-vie was acquired by Nicolas Palazzi over 10 years ago. It was already at least 10 years of age at the time with some eau-de-vie slightly older, around 15 years old, all distilled at a renowned single estate. With the help of the incredibly knowledgeable Jean-Noel Pelletan, a local artisanal cooper, Nicolas spent the next ten years researching age old techniques to bring the most out of this cask. Pelletan has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things cognac and a vast collection of historic technical manuscripts. It’s the secrets that were held in those books and his mind that brought this special cognac into existence. Bottled without additives or chill filtration of any kind at a cask strength of 42.6% alc by vol. Bottled in July 2020 at between 20 and 25 years of age.
What Gary Says
Nose: Rich perfume, floral, fruity with apricots, melon, kiwi, apples, bit of caramel, oak and subtle spices. Palate: Rich mouthfeel, fruitcake with cherries, apricots, apple, bit of pepper spice, clove, a note of molasses, and a hint of mint. Finish: Long and dry with oak and honey. DISCLAIMER: I’m a whisk(e)y enthusiast, and not familiar with Cognac (so read at your own risk!) Comments: Insanely intense flavor and nose for 42.6%! Not really a cognac drinker let along afficiando, but I know what I like – and I liked this. A lot. I didn’t have the prior 3 cognacs to try side-by-side with this, but of the others I sampled this spring, this was my favorite by such a wide margin, that’s inconsequential.
