German Gin: Monkey 47

Gin has always been a Great British institution right? WRONG! And there you go setting off the huge QI-style klaxon (other Klaxons are available). Gin is being made all across the world!

After a spirited day (get it!) at the London International Wine Fair having tasted all manner of weird and wonderful booze (mostly wine) and - thanks to a workshop with WSET - a range of international gins including American, Dutch and German, one of my highlights is Monkey 47 gin.

Distilled and bottled in The Black Forest in Germany by Schwarzwald, Monkey 47 is so called firstly because of Wing Commander Montgomery Collins (from whom the gin originates) sponsored a monkey at Berlin zoo. Aww. The second comes from it's plethora of botanical ingredients. Can you guess how many? Can you also guess the ABV? If you said 47 and 47% then well done, you get the biscuit!

It's pretty darn impossible to pin point every single ingredient unless you had 3 bottles and a lot of time / liver health, but on the nose there are aromas of Juniper, coriander, red berries, mint and wood. Neat, there are ginger notes, crunchy red berries and citrus fruit. Add a splash of tonic and it displays more floral notes, grapefruit and a whole host of herbaceous notes including coriander, mint, basil and grass. This gin is truly one of a kind and proves that not all great gin is made in England.

What's more is it absolutely beats the tar out of quite a few British gins. Yet another thing we've been beaten at. So with your next gin purchase, why not try looking outside of the UK? Monkey 47 is available from Master of Malt for £38.