No. 3

Berry Bros & Rudd is the oldest wine and spirits merchant in the UK, having been founded in 1898. They have long been associated with excellent quality drinks, so it was inevitable that one ay they would turn their hand a producing a high quality gin. No. 3 was launched in 2010, a creation initially thought up by David King, who would eventually be my manager during my last job prior to opening The Spirit Specialist. He and his team worked with Dr. David Clutton, who at the time was the only person in the world to hold a PhD in gin, to look at what they believed would make the 'perfect' gin. The work whittled a gin profile down to unlock three key parts of the ideal flavour profile (hence the name and the key on the bottle) - juniper (obviously), citrus and spice. The aim was to then produce a spirit that highlighted and balanced all three.

Depsite BBRs heritage in the UK, the gin is actually produced at the De Kuyper distillery in Holland - there is an argument to say Holland is the orginal home of gin, stemming from genever.

As you might hope, the balance is spot on - there's a definition of citrus to start, thanks to the help of grapefruit and sweet orange peel, before the spicy notes alongside juniper come through to the finish. There's a lovely bite to this which makes it perfect for a clean, crisp Martini, and it'll work with pretty much any tonic, even those somewhat sour ones.

It's a great gin, and BBR are a great and well established company - so it's even nicer to say I beat them to the award of Independent Spirits Retailer of the Year at the People's Choice Spirits Awards!