Maverick Drinks brand That Boutique-y Gin Company has launched four new perfume-inspired expressions as part of a collaboration with Lizzie Ostrom of fragrance specialist Odette Toilette.
The four new gins will launch in Harvey Nichols from 22 November (today) and will be sold exclusively in store for one month before being available through Maverick Drinks from 23 December.
The Olfactor-y gin range consists of Fresh Rain Gin, Dead King Gin, Big Dipper Gin and Beware of the Woods Gin.
Fresh Rain Gin aims to replicate the earthy scent of petrichor, the term given to the smell given off when rain falls on dry soil after an extended warm period. Also called geosmin, the smell is produced by bacteria in the earth. The distillers found that geosmin is also present in beetroot, and used the root vegetable together with edible Bentonite clay (for a drying sensation on the palate) to replicate the experience and aromas of fresh rain.
Interestingly, geosmin can be found in wine when the same bacteria that are found in the soil enter grape flesh. In wine, however, it is considered a fault.
Secondly, Dead King Gin combines the scent of freshly unwrapped Egyptian mummies and gin, featuring botanicals traditionally used in the embalming process including rosemary, honey, moss and myrrh. Unravelling mummies was once all the rage among certain circles in Victorian Britain with individuals such as surgeon and antiquarian Thomas Pettigrew (b.1791 – d.1865) professing a particular fascination with the topic.
On 15 January 1834, Pettigrew hosted a sell-out event at the Royal College of Surgeons during which he unrolled an Egyptian mummy in the name of science. In the same year, he published the History of Egyptian Mummies and used his experiments to further his pursuit of phrenology. Indeed the phenomenon became so popular across Europe that French aristocrat and Trappist monk Abbot Ferdinand de Géramb wrote in a letter to Pasha Mohammed Ali in 1833 that “it would be hardly respectable, on one’s return from Egypt, to present oneself without a mummy in one hand and a crocodile in the other”.
Thankfully, rather than crocodiles, the third new gin in the range is inspired by the fairground. In an attempt to replicate the scents of hot dog stands, candy floss and oily roller coasters, Big Dipper Gin combines sweet cocoa, cardamom and peated malt to mimic the aromas of a funfair.
Finally, Beware of the Woods Gin combines coniferous and bonfire night aromas using Icelandic moss, nutmeg and cubeb.
Each gin is distilled to 46% ABV and will be sold in 500ml bottles and are priced at £42.
Nick Bell, spirits buyer at Harvey Nichols, said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with That Boutique-y Gin Company to launch these incredibly exciting new gins into Harvey Nichols. That Boutique-y Gin Company are known to experiment and take some risks, which makes us perfect partners for this project. With gins developed to taste like fresh rain, funfairs, Icelandic forests, and even Egyptian mummies, we believe that this is their most exciting range to date and we can’t wait for our customers to try them”.
Ben Ellefsen, managing director of Atom Brands, added: “The inspiration from this range came when I was listening to an interview with Lizzie on Radio 4 one morning. We started talking and quickly realised that we shared a passion for gin, and the evocative nature of scent. The ideas tumbled out of the initial meeting and it became a real labour of love to develop recipes which not only taste delicious, but evoke a powerfully evocative olfactory response.
“Working with Lizzie on this project has been a dream, and we can’t wait for the follow-ups!”
Speaking at the launch event last night, Ostrom said that she expects to see more collaborations between the drinks and perfume industries, with brands aiming to create a sensory experience.
Brand ambassador for Boutique-y Gin, Stephanie Di Camillo, also created some cocktail recipes for the new gins including the Dark Woods Negroni (25ml Beware of the Woods Gin, 15ml Campari, 35ml sweet rooibos tea and one orange wedge or zest), The Sacred Bee (50ml Dead King Gin, 15ml lemon juice, 2tsp lemon curd, 1tsp orange blossom honey), After The Rain (50ml Fresh Rain Gin, 100ml cucumber tonic, fresh oregano and five melon cubes) and The Waltzer (50ml Big Dipper Gin, 20ml lemon juice, raspberry cordial and 100ml cream soda topped with pop corn).