Review

Finsbury 47
Platinum Gin

The Finsbury Distillery Company Ltd., London (Borco Marken Import GmbH & Co KG, Hamburg, Germany), made at Langley Distillery, Birmingham, England, UK.

Borco.

Joseph Bishop established the Finsbury Distillery in 1740. Besides Finsbury Gin it was responsible for making numerous well-known drinks including Stone’s Ginger Wine. Charles Maxwell of Thames Distillers is the 8th generation descendent of Joseph Bishop, making them the oldest unbroken lineage in Gin distillation.

Unfortunately, the Finsbury Distillery closed and at some point the company was sold. In recent times companies such as Constellation Europe Ltd have bought it and (we believe) Borco Import GmbH in Germany has owned it since 1994.

Borco was established in 1948 and is a family run business. In 1972 they entered into the wine and spirits business, today marketing over 60 spirit brands and is a leader in Germany, and a major player in Europe. Their marketing motto for Finsbury is "Originals don't change".

Kept a closely guarded secret it is made to a 1740 recipe using neutral grain base spirit (unlike the original Finsbury Gin which uses a molasses base spirit). It is distilled 6 times, a much smoother offering than the original Finsbury Gin, and is made in a smaller 3,000-Liter John Dore copper pot still.

Presented in clear bottle, shaped like a large hip flask (shallow back to front and wide across) with a silver/grey label and blue colored writing. It may also be found in a tall clear rectangular bottle with the same label design. The label has a coat of arms for the City of London at the top, no doubt in reference to Finsbury (see “Name” below).

London Dry Gin.

47% (94 Proof).

$$$$$ - $$$$$$. Not available in the USA. This is a little hard to find but is available in Germany and several other European countries. Try Master of Malt in the UK and prepare to pay an additional 50% for shipping.

Unknown and kept a close secret.

The name is no doubt a reference to the London Borough of Finsbury (now part of the London Borough of Islington), the center of gin industry back in the 1700’s. The 47 refers to its ABV and the use of the word “Platinum” undoubtedly highlights its positioning as top of the range for this brand.

On the nose is juniper with some herbal, floral and spicy notes. On the palate this oily smooth spirit has strong pine (juniper), lemon (citrus and coriander) and earthiness (angelica). On the close is a dry, slightly bitter, warm pepper and spicy finish with mild perfumed floral notes.

This is a lovely smooth classic traditional London Dry Gin and has a certain degree of not unpleasant perfume to it. In a Gin & Tonic the juniper, citrus and coriander come through strongly. A Martini is very soft and smooth and the earthy angelica balances well with the herbal qualities of the Vermouth; it’s even better (and our favorite) in a Dry Martini.

This is an impressive Gin and is very highly recommended. We’re looking forward to another bottle, to see how it performs in other cocktails, as unfortunately we enjoyed in so much it was gone far too quickly!

Silver Medal, International Wine and Spirit Competition, 2010.