How do you decide on a new gin’s botanical combination?

We start with internal collaboration. Here at McQueen Gin we are blessed with Vicky McQueen’s background and experience as a Chef, bringing knowledge of flavour combinations and how to use botanicals to create fabulous gins. We also use market research and feedback from customers.

This gin was formed from Vicky’s knowledge of chocolate and decided that raspberries would be an ideal botanical. The white chocolate flavour is a combination of cocoa nibs and vanilla, when combined they create the sweet creamy chocolate flavour.

The combination gives you a sense of creamy raspberry ripple ice cream.

The Nose: We think it smells like your favourite childhood bubblegum with notes of juniper finishing on chocolate.

The Taste: Very smooth vanilla cream followed by juniper and raspberry fruitiness. Finishing with long lingering white chocolate long after the liquid has dispersed.

We thought long and hard about the serve of this gin, we went through our normal routine of tasting it neat, tasting it chilled, trying as a Martini and finally as a Gin & Tonic. We tried 4 different tonics – just to make sure!

The consensus is, that this gin is a superb sipping gin – lightly chilled with ice and sipped slowly. It allows the creaminess to come though with the fruits and chocolate notes. Something to be savoured.

If you would like to serve this as a Gin & Tonic then we recommend the Aromatic Tonic from Fever-Tree, the gentle bitterness of South American angostura bark with aromatic botanicals, complementing the gin without masking its own key botanicals.

We hope you enjoy this Limited Edition gin. It is on sale from us only – not available for resale!

Slàinte