Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Stare and Compare

Hello friends! (That’s how we greet each other since it’s Masters week right?) You join me on what is a very happy day. Today I got some stuff in the mail. Specifically this:

What I got was a bottle of English Amber Vermouth from the Sacred Spirits company in London, and a bottle of Brighton Gin’s Spice Circuit gin, along with a glass. I wanted to get the gin during my last work trip to the UK but never got a chance to. However I was told by some friends that live over there that I could send it to their house and they would bring it over and send it to me from their stateside visit. I happy took them up on the offer, and added in the vermouth as well since I wanted to to re-create the Vesper I had at Dukes cocktail bar in London.

That’s for later. For today, what I wanted to do was a taste test. I have a bottle of regular Pavilion Strength Brighton gin on hand, and I wanted to see how different the Indian spiced version was. The distillers describe the gin flavor as containing ” the roundness of mace, the zing of black pepper and just a hint of cardamom, as well as juniper and coriander.” Sounds delicious right? Lets see how it compares to their Pavilion Strength offering, both neat and in a gin and tonic. Both featuring the same amount of ice, tonic and lime juice to keep this as scientific as possible

The main difference between the two is the Spice Circuit has a higher ABV at 46% to the Pavilion Strength offering at 40%. The lesser ABV makes for a nicer, smoother mouth feel.  As with most gins, the Pavilion Strength is juniper forward on the aroma and palate, but with hints of citrus flavor in there, once the initial juniper hit wears off.

The Spice Circuit definitely more of an aroma. I can get some of the spices coming through, but I’m not 100% which ones shine through the most. The cardamom maybe? Who knows. Anyway, it smells like it’s going to be great. Spoiler alert: it is. The flavor is deeper than a regular dry gin, and much deeper than it’s sibling. You can really taste pepper, as well as some of the cardamom in there as well. The juniper lead is still there, but is very diminished by the other spices, but in a good way. This is still gin for sure, but the added Indian spices really play well with this spirit.

Now, on to the Gin and Tonic experiment:

The Pavilion Strength gin produces a classic English gin and tonic. It’s cold, refreshing and very easy sipping. The lime plays well in there too. The muted botanicals help the citrus come through nicely in the tonic. 10/10. No notes for this one.

The Spice Circuit is also extraordinarily smooth. The gin is tamed by the tonic as you would expect, but the botanicals and the spices still come through nicely. Not as intense as when I tried it neat, but they do come out and you can get a sense of what they bring here. The tonic and the ice help keep it nice and cold, which enhances the flavors as well. Again, this is a very easy drinker and love what’s going on here.

Both of these offerings are excellent, and I look forward to enjoying them (sparingly, because I cannot get them over here and I can only re-stock if I go there or my friends come here). Now the ultimate test is to see how the Spice Circuit gin and tonic pairs with a nice curry and some garlic naan…

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)