LCBO Food & Drink Summer 2018

SPIRITS  GINS OF DISTINCTION

C LAS S I C

Sweet, grainy gin was first produced in Holland in Renaissance times when juniper was believed to be a way of warding off the plague. Today, London dry gin, perfected in the 1820s, is a more familiar style. The classic profile leads off with spicy, resinous juniper backed with dry citrus peels, earthy orris root, coriander and angelica, amongst other treasures. Vermouth has a similar aromatic pedigree, which is why it combines with gin so happily to make a great Dry Martini. Here are two modern gins from London that proudly maintain the classical balance of flavours, both also splendid in a Gin & Tonic.

PORTOBELLO ROAD GIN LCBO 548339, $44.95 The operators of The Ginstitute in London, England, who created this beguilingly smooth gin, proudly say it “eschews the contemporary trend for ever more esoteric ingredients.” Nine classic botanicals in­ cluding cassia and nutmeg back up a traditional juniper-forward flavour.

KNOW YOUR TONIC Some commercial tonic waters are so heavy, sweet and citrusy they swamp a delicate gin. Look for Q tonic, Fever‑Tree or Fentimans.

SIPSMITH LONDON DRY GIN LCBO 391177, $49.95 This micro-distillery opened in 2009 in London, producing a classic gin in very small batches, using water from the famously pure Lydwell Spring, source of the River Thames. Very smooth and mellow, it offers a touch of lemon tart and orange peel behind the dry juniper facade.

42  FOOD & DRI NK SUMMER 2018