Here at Craft Gin Club, we don’t like to waste anything - especially when it comes to gin and gin cocktails! But this isn’t limited to gin. No, the same applies to any other alcohol, including that classic festive tipple, sherry. That’s right, we are here to put a stop to pouring one tiny glass of sherry each Christmas and then letting the rest of the bottle spend the next year gathering dust in the back of the cupboard.

Sherry is a cracking cocktail ingredient throughout the festive season and beyond. And this Gin and Sherry Cobbler is proof of that! The fino sherry makes for a lovely crisp sip, and the gin adds extra fresh botanicals, with fruitiness from the citrus. There’s also a subtle hint of spice from the cinnamon garnish, which we love. It’s a wonderful Christmas cocktail!

But first things first, let’s go back to basics on all things sherry…

What is sherry?
Sherry is a fortified wine made in the south of Spain. Most sherries can be relied upon for a nutty, savoury flavour profile with a hint of salinity. All sherries are made using white wine grapes, but they vary greatly in sweetness and alcohol content.

What are the different types of sherry, and what does sherry taste like?
Let’s start with the dry styles. Fino sherry is very dry and light-bodied, with an almond aroma and a crisp quality; the same could be said for manzanilla sherry, though this particular style doesn’t age as well as its fino cousin.

Amontillado, meanwhile, is a little bit sweeter (but still dry) with a hazelnut aroma and a savoury flavour. Oloroso sherries can be sweet or dry, and often have a caramel flavour and walnut aroma.

When it comes to sweet sherry, the sweetest of the sweet is Pedro Ximenez. This remarkable fortified wine is made from sundried grapes, which gives it a syrupy mouthfeel and remarkable flavour of figs, dates, toffee and molasses. It’s also used to sweeten other sherries. The most common of these is a cream sherry – these vary greatly in quality. 

Gin Sherry Cobbler 

15ml gin
60ml fino sherry
15ml lemon juice
10ml simple syrup
2 orange slices, plus one to garnish
Cinnamon stick and Maraschino cherry (optional), to garnish

Fill a tumbler with crushed ice and set aside. In a cocktail shaker, add all of the ingredients, keeping back one slice of orange for your garnish. Fill the shaker with ice and shake well, then strain into your glass. Garnish and serve.

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