Spirited News 01/2021: South American Gins
As always with this category I am presenting spirits to you that are new to me. For the first article in this year, it is all about gin. While the trend clearly goes towards more regional spirits, the gins I am writing about today all come from South America. The Canaima Gin from Venezuela and the Príncipe de los Apóstoles Mate Gin from Argentina. Let us see if they can serve as a starting point for discovering South American gins.
The Canaima Gin is inspired by the Amazonian rainforest and 10 % of their sales go to NGOS supporting indigenous communities. The DUSA’s distillery famous for their Botucal / Dimplomatico Rum produce the gin in the state of Lara. They hand select the botanicals and pick them when they are at their best quality in the rainforest. Afterwards the herbs, fruits and spices macerate separately in neutral grain alcohol. They are also distilled separately. In the end, the six botanicals from the Amazonian rainforest consist of açai, cashews, Copoazú, Seje, Túpiro and Uva de Palma.
Citrus fruits and backing spices
On the one hand, I was surprised how “classic” the flavour profile of the Canaima Gin is. Yet, on the other hand the gin has pronounced fruity notes, reminiscent of mandarin peel. Apart from that, you can taste some herbal notes and a slight sweetness in the taste. I enjoyed the Canaima Gin very much and can imagine it making great Gimlets!
Argentina’s most famous gin
The Príncipe de los Apóstoles Mate Gin may just be the most famous gin from Argentina. Renato “Tato” Giovannoni, one of the highly rewarded bartenders from South America, created the gin for his bar. Additionally, the botanicals for the gin are juniper, coriander seeds, eucalyptus, mate tea, pink grapefruit and Peperina. They also macerate separately. Afterwards, the distillation takes place in batches of 200 l in copper pot-stills at a disillery in the Argentinan highlands. In the end, the distillate rests for a while before bottling. You can get two different bottlings here in Germany, the regular one with an ABV 40,5 % and the Fuerza Gaucha with 53 % ABV.
Complex herbal notes
While you can taste the juniper on your first sip of the Príncipe de los Apóstoles Mate Gin, herbal notes dominate the gin. On top of that, you can really taste the mate tea in the taste. In addition, the gin has some citrus and floral notes. Surprisingly enough, the Fuerza Gauca really tastes like a different gin. You will find a lot of peppermint and even some chocolate notes. However, there are also some similarities with a distinct mate tea flavour, too. I cannot really decide which gin I prefer, they both have their advantages. While I can imagine the regular strength bottling working very well in a Dry Martini, the Fuerza Gauca probably works in all sorts of Gin Sours. I guess you also have to try both and decide yourself!
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The Apostoles Gin was provided by Imexory and the Canaima Gin by Sierra Madre.
