PORTOBELLO ROAD GIN
Region – United Kingdom
Nestled on the top floors of a 19th century public house at Portobello Road in London is the city’s second smallest museum. Ged Feltham, Paul Lane and Jake Burger’s Ginstitute is a museum filled with gins from the late 1800s and 1900s and sits atop their Portobello Star bar. While working on the museum, the duo felt that creating their own gin seemed a fitting addition to it.
Then came Copernicus the Second, their 30L Portuguese alembic pot still. Some late-night experimentation followed and across nine months, they experimented with distillates using fruit, teas and even sauces, to finally create Portobello Road No 171 Gin. The gin is distilled at The Thames Distillery in South West London.
Portobello Road’s base spirit has English-grown wheat. Their nine botanicals come from across the world: juniper and orris from Tuscany, orange peels from Haiti or Morocco, lemon peels from Spain, nutmeg from Indonesia and cassia bark from South East Asia.
Over the years, their gin experiments have continued. In 2015, they launched the Local Heroes series, creating limited edition gins in collaboration with local people including Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler. Some of their other unique expressions are made with British asparagus, butter, parsnips; there is also a low-alcohol Temperance version.
PORTOBELLO ROAD GIN LONDON DRY No. 171
42% ABV — 700 ml
A solid traditional London Dry, it was formulated in the manner of old-style gins.
The product of late-night experiments, the gin has lemon peel, orange peel, liquorice, coriander seeds, orris root, angelica, cassia bark, and nutmeg. It launched in 2011.
The gin picked up a Silver at NZ Spirits Awards 2019.
The spice-forward gin shines when mixed with tonic and a twist of pink grapefruit or citrus tonics. Try it in a Negroni too.
Tasting Notes: The clear gin heroes juniper. On the nose, it is hot white pepper, with grassy undertones and generous amounts of green juniper. When sipped, it is spice-forward and warm, with an earthy mid-palate and a citrus at the end. It finishes dry, with some citrus freshness.
PORTOBELLO ROAD No.171 SAVOURY GIN
42% ABV — 700 ml
The Savoury Gin started life as an experiment called King Theodore of Corsica, in honour of the curious names given to old school gins. It was once only found at The Ginstitute on 186 Portobello Road and is the seventh expression from their core range.
The final iteration is inspired by 1860s King Theodore of Corsics and features some Mediterranean botanicals like Green Gordal olives, Calabrian bergamot peel, rosemary, basil with a touch of Mediterranean Sea Salt added after distillation.
The sugar-free gin is elegant enough for a Martini, and works best with tonic water, lemon peel and sprig of rosemary.
Tasting Notes: It is juniper forward, with citrus and vibrant herbaceous notes. This gives in to some heat from nutmeg, salinity and briny green olives that gives it a lingering dry finish.
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