If you’re looking for something special to celebrate an important moment, or if you’re simply in the mood for an exquisite tipple, our February Discovery Gin is exactly that. In order to create a spectacular gin, you need an exceptional distillery - one that’s meticulous about every intricacy – and Capreolus Distillery has painstakingly crafted Mulberry Barrel-Aged Gin - it’s a smooth, one-of-a-kind spirit.
So what is a Discovery Gin? In addition to the Gin of the Month sent to Craft Gin Club members, every month a panel of experts select an adventurous gin for connoisseurs looking for something out of the ordinary. This month, we’ve got an extremely rare Mulberry Barrel-Aged Gin that will sing in a Negroni and is just as stunning enjoyed neat…
Hart & Dart Mulberry Barrel Aged Gin
Tasting notes
Mulberry wood adds delicate sweetness, discreet tannins, floral complexity and rich spice. This elevates the notes in Garden Swift Gin, with its organic blood orange, flowers, spice, berries, pine, drying resins and a sweetness that fills the mouth. It’s a beautifully complex spirit of incomparable poise.
Botanicals
It’s a secret mix of 34 botanicals, including Croatian juniper, organic blood orange zest, native lime flowers, mullein, galangal, curry leaves, rowan berry, rosehip and wormwood.
ABV 47%.
Barney and his gorgeous greenhouse distillery
Meet the maker
Growing up in the Cotswolds, Barney was influenced by his beautiful surroundings: flower-rich grasslands and the lovely wildlife that inhabits them.
A love of nature was pretty much guaranteed, leading to Barney’s career as a photojournalist, working with botanists around the world.
Alongside this was a unique hobby: distilling eau de vie (fruit spirits that compress up to 45kg of fruit into each litre). It wasn't long before Barney began focusing on distilling and that’s when Capreolus Distillery was born…
With a lifelong fascination for natural history (Capreolus is the Latin name of the Roe deer), this became addictive. After their eaux de vie found a surprisingly big market in the UK (which is supplied in three-starred Michelin restaurants home and abroad), Barney started producing gin with the same balance and aromatic quality he found in his fruit spirits.
And we couldn’t think of a more picturesque place to work – yes, all the magic happens from an idyllic greenhouse in the garden he grew up in. Imagine having a ginny greenhouse at the bottom of your garden…
“The greenhouse has two custom built stills with three households worth of renewably sourced electricity in it. Every part of the gin’s production is carried out here (even hand labelling every single bottle with letterpress printed labels). We will be processing around 40,000kg of fruit in the garden this year!”
Barney was already experimenting with woods to create his delicious eau de vie, so creating mulberry aged gin was a natural next step: “One year we tried ageing an old mulberry wood barrel whilst making a plum eau de vie. The results were so wonderful I knew we had to have it as a permanent addition to our selection!”
But it’s a labour of love: “We produce one barrel at a time. And to achieve the flavour profile I prefer, we only get one fill from each barrel - making it incredibly expensive!”
And Barney couldn’t do it without his partner: “Hannah has a nose more attuned to heads components, whereas mine is better for detecting tails. I always get her to check my decisions – we’re a perfect partnership!”
And if you’ve never tried a mulberry barrel-aged gin before, here’s what you need to know:
“Think of the barrel as an additional botanical – it is an addition in flavour, aroma and texture. Barrels lubricate the palate, and as a fully balanced gin, do try it neat in a small wine glass. Drunk neat, it acts as a perfect match for rich puddings – especially those that include spiced apples or plums!”
The flavours of mulberry barrel-aged gin are simply mouthwatering: “Typically mulberry wood brings sweetness with rich spice and floral notes that reflect these characters in our gin.”
“These elements vary, and the hand toasted barrels express degrees of smoke and weight that also vary noticeably between the barrels.” And we think that’s what makes owning a bottle of Hart & Dart Mulberry Barrel Aged Gin even more special!
How to drink Hart & Dart Mulberry Barrel Aged Gin
Hart & Dart Mulberry Barrel Aged G&T
50ml of Hart & Dart Mulberry Barrel Aged Gin
150ml tonic (try and opt for a neutral one, like Twelve Below Classic Tonic Water)
Slice of fresh blood orange, to garnish
Hart & Dart Negroni
25ml Hart & Dart Mulberry Barrel Aged Gin
25ml Campari
25ml sweet vermouth
Orange slice or lemon slice, to garnish
Fill a short rocks glass with ice and pour all the ingredients over the ice. Stir gently for a minute, until the drink is well chilled. Garnish with your slice of fruit.
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