Portobello Road Gin Directors Cut No. 5

Portobello Road Directors Cut Edition Gins are an occasional release of Limited Edition bottlings which allow the team to flex their proverbial creative muscles, usually resulting in incredible liquids that sell out rapidly. Previous versions included the world’s first Asparagus flavoured London Dry Gin, a Smoky Gin made with Irish peat and Lapsang Souchong tea, a Christmas Gin incorporating parsnips and pears and a gin inspired by the extraordinary “Pechuga” Mezcals of Mexico distilled with a turkey breast in the neck of the still.

For this, our fifth expression, we have looked to the gin recipes of the past for inspiration, in particular this passage from 1853; a description of the recipe for Hodges Gin, a famous but sadly lost gin from London’s past.

“Take 135 gallons of spirit, 7 percent over proof, 5lbs of Italian juniper berries, 14l bs of German ditto, 15l bs of coriander seeds, ¾ lb of angelica root, 2oz of cassia, 2oz of calamus aromaticus…

The reason that two sorts of juniper berries are advised to be used, is, that the French and Italian berries contain most oil, being produced in warmer countries, while those of Germany origin contain most resin. The oily berries communicates the finer, and the resinous berries the stronger flavour; were the latter only used, the gin would want delicacy, were the former kind wholly employed, the gin would turn blue or milky, when mixed with water, on account of the superabundance of oil.” 

As renowned, inherent gin fans, here at Portobello Road Distillery we have always loved a juniper heavy gin, and indeed have, ourselves, found terroir to be hugely important in juniper berry flavour.

As such, we decided to make a gin with the most diverse selection of Juniper Berries we could find, foraging some ourselves from the Brecon Beacons in Wales, and sourcing others from Macedonia, Tuscany, Serbia and Albania.

 Using not just more kinds of juniper but also more juniper than we do in our classic London Dry,

this Director’s Cut No.5 - Five Juniper Gin is bottled at 47.3%, as Hodges and all good gins would have been in that era.

Rich, oily, juniper forward, high strength gin, it’s a real connoisseurs choice.

70cl | 47.3% ABV

Orders will be distributed on 12th December