Words by Colin Hampden-White
Photo Courtesy of Fifty Pounds Gin
In the heyday of the gin industry, there was no quality control. Gin was often mixed with turpentine and other nasties and licences were easily obtainable with a simple application. The ease of production led famously to the massive over consumption of gin at the time, which in turned caused huge social problems. In an effort to combat this gin ‘epidemic’, the Gin Act was imposed in 1736, which lumped high taxes on distillers, forbade the sale of the spirit in quantities of less than two gallons and required an annual payment of fifty pounds for a retail licence. All this however, had little effect beyond increasing smuggling and driving the distilling trade underground and the quality was still variable, to say the least.
The birth of the London Dry style
By 1826, the invention of the column still made the distillation of neutral spirits more practical and enabled the creation of the more quality-driven ‘London Dry’ style that continued to evolve during the 19th century. London Dry Gin became a quality designation for pure gin that is made with natural botanicals and has no flavouring or colouring added after distillation, only water. London gin had upped its game.
Why ‘Fifty Pounds’ Gin?
No, it’s not because it costs fifty pounds (in fact it’s substantially less at £34.95). Fifty Pounds Gin takes its name from the 1736 Gin Act. It is a London gin, triple-filtered to achieve optimum smoothness and distilled in small batches. At 43.5% ABV, it’s a gin that works equally well neat or in cocktails and G&Ts. The exact recipe is secret, but Fifty Pounds are open about the botanicals they use which include juniper from Croatia, coriander seeds from the Middle East, orange peel from Spain, angelica root from Western Europe, savoury from France, liquorice powder from Southern Italy and grains of paradise from the Gulf of Guinea in Western Africa.
The beautiful bottle itself has a tapered shape which harks back to the Georgian time when there was no nasty plastic bubble wrap and bottles had to fit snuggly together like sardines to prevent breakage. Testament to the small batch process, each bottle also bears an individual distillation batch number as well as a note of the year that it was distilled.
A very limited edition: ‘The cask at the back’
Back in the nineteenth century, gin was transported in oak barrels, some of which used to contain sherry. The barrels were re-used when transporting the gin between various places. Fifty Pounds have called their limited edition ‘Cask at the back’ as it refers to barrels that were stored at the back of the warehouse and thus were harder to grab and so stayed there a bit longer. The gin these barrels contained had a much deeper colour and unique character, quite different from the rest. If they had come from sherry casks, these differences were even more pronounced.
Charles Maxwell, master distiller for Fifty Pounds Gin, wanted to recreate the flavour profile and texture of this special type of gin, so produced a limited run of what he called ‘Fifty Pounds Gin - Cask at the Back’, using American oak casks which used to contain very old, sweet, Pedro Ximenez sherry. Maxwell describes this limited edition gin beautifully as having “classic aromas of juniper and citrus fruits predominant with hints of wood and tasted oak along with floral notes and delicate hints of raisins, prunes and nuts. On the palate there is a gentle and attractive sweetness at the start, it is warm, smooth, very complex and balanced with a long finish which leaves a delightful sensation of roundness”.
Only 500 bottles of Cask at the Back were created and the edition is already, sadly, sold-out. Don’t despair however, we have one bottle to give away, signed by master distiller Charles Maxwell himself! Here’s how you can enter:
How to drink Fifty Pounds Gin
Incredibly versatile, this is a classic, London dry gin, yet it has a seductive viscosity and balanced aromas that means you could sip it by itself if you so desire. It makes a cracking G&T and a marvellous dry Martini, but one drink we would urge you create with it is a Gimlet. Incredibly easy to make at home, our little twist on the classic Gimlet uses fresh lime juice instead of cordial. The gin easily stands up to the strong flavour and the lime will give you an extra freshness (not to mention a boost of vitamin C). Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
50ml Fifty Pounds Gin
The juice of two limes
Splash of simple honey syrup (optional)
Lime wedge for garnish
Method
A Gimlet can be stirred or shaken, but we’d suggest combining the gin and the lime in a glass with ice and stirring. Add the simple syrup to taste if you’re using it and stir. Pour into a classic cocktail or Martini glass and garnish with a lime wedge.
Over the summer, London Dry Gin is a perfect spirit for mixing with tonic and making a whole host of cocktails. With its classic juniper-led flavour profile and crisp clean nature, there is not another spirit like it. And of the myriad of London dry gins on the market, Fifty Pounds Gin stands head and shoulders above many – and it looks as good as it tastes.