Flavor Profile
Cornwall-based Southwestern Distillery creates their Tarquin’s Cornish Dry Gin over a naked flame in a copper pot still. Twelve botanicals are distilled, including a couple less common inclusions. Most notably, Devon Violets, perhaps familiar to Brits as an early 20th century popular soliflore perfume, make an appearance.
The botanicals rest in wheat spirit before a single-shot distillation.
Tasting Notes
Nose: Crisp and juniper-forward. Enough juniper is there to suggest a boreal forest. Hints of citrus, citrus blossom, spice and angelica lend roundness preventing Tarquin’s Cornish Dry Gin from being a one note wonder.
Flavor: If the nose was all about the pine, the palate is heady with bright citrus., Early pine and clean bright lemon zest. Juniper, Neroli, and spice mid-palate, with cardamom becoming more clear as the spirit recedes.
Finish: Moderately long with a delicate warmth. A faint floral hint of orris root and violets complement a delicate cardamom note.
Clean and complex with a clear, unfolding on the palate.
Cocktails
Tarquin’s Cornish Dry Gin has an ideal contemporary, citrus-profile for classic mixed drinks like gin and tonic or gin and seltzer. Mixed, the botanicals remain strong, so don’t be shy about pairing it with flavored tonic waters or bitter lemons (if that’s your thing).
The complex unfolding palate is one of my favorite attributes for a Martini gin; however, Tarquin’s is a flexible mixer that brings citrus and classic gin character to nearly anything. Amplify the floral in an Aviation or Arsenic and Old Lace. Or dial in to the deep citrus nuance with a Greyhound or Tom Collins.
If you’re a bartender curating a cocktail program around a craft gin, Tarquin’s Cornish Dry Gin should be on your short list.
Overall, Tarquin’s Cornish Dry Gin
Supremely balanced with a beautiful mouthfeel, Southwestern Distillery’s flagship gin is a winner, even as it approaches the ten year mark.
Recommended for contemporary gin fans.
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