The Yarra Valley in Victoria, Australia is known for it’s wines. One of the grapes grown in the region is Shiraz. Rather than making those grapes into wine, Four Pillars Distillery macerates them in a high proof version of the Rare Dry Gin for eight weeks. They are then pressed. Bloody Shiraz Gin is not sweetened beyond this maceration process.
Conceptually, I’d say Bloody Shiraz Gin is similar to a Sloe Gin. At least that’s a helpful starting point for how to use this gin. However, grapes are not sloes and you’ll notice the flavor is quite different.
I’ve also had the pleasure of trying this gin a few times. I find that there is some variation from season-to-season and maybe even batch-to-batch. Fresh fruit, especially grapes can vary annually. This isn’t a sleight against Bloody Shiraz Gin— it might even be an asset that it’s a unique presentation that wears terroir on its sleeve.
Tasting notes
Color: Rosewood
Aroma: Spicy and a bit sweet. Tart raspberries, ginger, plum, raisin and cassia with a slight cool menthol hint of pine needles to accompany the dried fruit.
Flavor: Unctuous and rich, without being thick or sugary. Dark honey, almost reminiscent of a mead at first. Black currants and dried apricot lead in to a heart where some of the gin botanicals begin to be more pronounced. Again, some hints of ginger, cassia and baking spice. But also bright zestyorange rind, waxy juniper, and dried dates.
Very long evolving palate. There’s a subtle sweet to Bloody Shiraz Gin, but it never takes on the syrupy thickness of most Sloe Gins. Again, it’s not a Sloe Gin, but there’s a lot of tasting notes in here that remind me of one.
Finish: Dried currants and a delicate, slightly menthol kissed juniper.
Cocktails and suggested serves
I think Bloody Shiraz Gin is at its best sipped right from the fridge. Cold and bright, you get so much botanical and fruit complexity from the grapes— it’s wonderful.
If you are going to mix with it, try it in a Sloe Gin Fizz (again, the sloe gin comparisons are perhaps best as a starting point for mixing) or simply done up with soda water or tonic.
Bloody Shiraz Gin has fresh fruit directly in it— keep it refrigerated once opened. I recommend drinking it rather quickly (< a month). The flavor degrades over time, and this gin is best in those first few serves. Stored at room temperature the degradation is more pronounced.
Overall, Bloody Shiraz Gin (2024)
Of all the versions of this gin I’ve had— and they’ve been quite good— this is one of the best vintages. I found myself going to the fridge to sip this one its own over the course of my review. While I sometimes joke that I sip bourbon to be off the clock, this time I sipped Bloody Shiraz Gin to be off the clock.
The 37.8% ABV helps it sip like a sipping spirit.
Fans of bold fruit-forward spirits will love this. Fans of Sloe Gin will also love this despite it not even looking in the direction of a Sloe. But most importantly, I think almost all gin fans will find something to like here. This is a bold experiment that retains so much of the underlying gin, while build on it with a novel process— that even after near a decade(!) after they first created it— has no imitators of note.
Bloody Shiraz gin is bloody good. I love this gin and I think you will too.
Highly recommended.