Review

Perivale Gin

The Fabulous Vodka Company Ltd., Marlow Bottom, Buckinghamshire (make this using the facilities at Thames Distillers, Clapham, London), UK.

The Fabulous Vodka Company.

Christopher John Spiller is a brand developer and distiller with around 20 years experience. Having helped so many grocery stores in the UK develop their own brand spirits he decided in 2008 to branch out on his own, although he still provides this prior service to help other individuals and companies.

Chris developed and produced several different Vodka’s, before producing Perivale in September 2009, his very first own Gin. He has since gone on to produce more Vodkas and has many more Gins and Vodkas to come.

The Gin is batch distilled in a tradition London Dry style. The botanicals are steeped in the pure grain base spirit overnight before being distilled by Chris at Thames Distillers.

The Gin is presented in a tall clear cylindrical bottle with a medium length neck and sloping shoulders. There is a diamond shaped label with a dark green colored perimeter. In the middle is a cartoon style image of a houseboat, see “Name” below for further information.

Distilled Dry Gin.

40% (80 Proof).

$$$ - $$$$. Not available in the USA. However it is available direct from The Fabulous Vodka Company and we believe they do ship to the USA.

This Gin uses 5 botanicals including: angelica root, coriander seed, juniper berries, lemon peel and orange peel.

Chris Spiller, the owner and distiller, used to live on a houseboat on the River Trent in Perivale, about 10 miles west of the center of London. There were very few drinking establishments in the area and thus the name, Perivale “Dry” Gin.

On the nose is pine (juniper) with hints of citrus and light spice. On the palate this softly smooth and dry spirit has clear juniper with zesty citrus (mainly lemon) and gently warm spice (coriander). On the close the citrus and spice dissipates leaving dry juniper in the long finish.

This is a pleasantly surprising Gin taken neat. In a Gin and Tonic it makes a refreshing drink with the flavors only slightly muted by the Tonic, making it a good everyday G&T especially in summer. This makes a lovely Martini finding it best with a lemon garnish, and is another example of a good everyday drink from this Gin.

This is a simply good classic Gin. The makers of Perivale say they have made this to make a good G&T and Martini and this is exactly how we found it. This is a reassuringly nice Gin to have around and we would be happy to use this when entertaining guests without spending too much money. It is not too fancy, not too expensive and not too poor a quality - we give it a big thumbs up as probably our best everyday/party Gin.

Unknown.