Tasting: Mackintosh Gin

On the back of my decision to cancel my monthly subscription box, I had to pick a gin to spend that money on (I’d allocated it in my mind so there’s no way I was spending it on something else. It’s like Holiday money, once you’ve exchanged it, it’s not real money any more so you can spend it without guilt!). The choice I quickly settled on was Mackintosh Gin.

Mackintosh Gin is a proper family affair, produced by Jim and Deborah in the County of Angus in Scotland, and even involving their three daughters in brand and development. They started, as I’m sure many do, by getting into the burgeoning gin scene – and where better to do it than Scotland really? I’m more than a little jealous of the quality of the water up there…I say this as someone living in East Anglia which apparently has some of the hardest water in the country! Jim and Deborah’s “Gin Journey”, started the same way as I imagine it did with a lot of us, going to a gin festival and realising just how much there is out there and how many great people there are behind the products. Following that and a little “make your own compound gin at home” experimentation, the seed was planted of creating their own distilled gin. Mackintosh Gin was set up in February 2018, March saw the start of work with a nearby distillery on the recipe, and then 6 months later, they were ready to launch. Jim did say that looking back it was probably a bit of a crazy idea, but I’ve no doubt some of the best ideas start that way, and you can’t argue with the result…

Mackintosh is a pretty upfront London dry gin with a bit of a twist to lift it in a few areas and bottled at 42%. Many of the botanicals are as you’d expect: Juniper (duh), orange peel, lemon zest, angelica and coriander. The two noteworthy botanicals are fresh grapefruit rather than dried, and local Elderflower gathered from nearby.

On the nose, you get welcome, classic gin (no unicorn poop in sight): Juniper there in spades as you’d expect. Tasting neat, there’s the Juniper up front again, with a warmth from the alcohol but not in an unpleasant way. You get a slight hint of the citrus coming in afterwards, but the neat taste is certainly dominated by the juniper. Adding a splash of light tonic mutes the juniper a little, but brings the citrus forward a lot and you get a surprising amount of sweetness come through with the citrus notes. Once the main hit of the juniper and citrus have passed, you’re left with some slight peppery afternotes, but also a lingering hint of the floral elderflower. I’m not sure I’d know the elderflower was there if I didn’t know it was on the botanical list, as it melds well with the overall flavour rather than standing out on its own. Honestly not sure this needs any garnish, but adding a slice of fresh grapefruit just brings that citrus up another notch if that’s what you think might hit the spot at the time. A great London Dry gin, smooth, enjoyable, and going into a Negroni as soon as I restock on vermouth! I know, I’ve run out of vermouth and that makes me a terrible human being.

Fancy trying it for yourself? I’ve got a competition going on over on Twitter, until 31st March, to win one of your very own to enjoy. Click HERE to jump to the tweet.

If you’d like any more information or to buy the gin, you can find all you need over at: https://www.mackintoshgin.com/