Review

Butler's Lemongrass
& Cardamom Gin

Ross William Butler of The Butlers Gin Ltd., Hackney Wick, Tower Hamlets, London, England, UK.

Butler’s Gin.

The idea was inspired whilst Ross was out on his boat back in the summer of 2011 and the company formally established in the fall of 2012. After trialling and many samplings, the Gin was finally released in early 2013.

The base spirit used is a London Dry Gin distilled by Ross Butler, but no further details are available on this except, the inspiration has come from an old Victorian recipe. A sachet of botanicals is infused in 20-liter glass jars of the juniper berry base spirit for 18 hours before being bottled by hand.

Presented in clear tall square bottles it has curved shoulders with a white label and black writing. The Gin has a light green and yellow tint (from the cardamom and lemongrass respectively) and each bottle is hand signed with batch and bottle number.

Compound Gin.

40% (80 Proof).

$$$$$$$ - $$$$$$$$. Not available in the USA (although may be launched here in 2014). In the meantime, try Master of Malt in the UK and be prepared to pay an additional 50% for shipping.

9 organically sourced Botanicals are used in the infusion: cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, fennel, lemon, lemongrass, lime and star anise.

Named after the founder, Ross Butler.

On the nose is citrus (lemon & lime) and lemongrass with cardamom, cinnamon and clove in the background plus a faint sense of ginger. On the palate this slightly sweet spirit has aniseed and citrus (lime) with light juniper, cardamom and ginger-like coriander. The close is short and dry with warming herbal spice, but long on lemongrass.

This is a nice Gin and although light on the juniper it has a refreshing appeal. In a Gin & Tonic the spices become brighter with hints of juniper and citrus plus lemongrass in the background, Butler’s recommend garnishing with cucumber. The big surprise for us was the Martini, the juniper and citrus brightens and is well balanced with the spices against the Vermouth, so we suggest going for a wetter rather than a drier version.

Ross clearly has something here worth pursuing. Most people are used to heated redistillation infusion of botanicals rather than this simple cold infusion methodology but it works! Congratulations and our well wishes for continued progress to The Butler.

Unknown.