Each month we shine a spotlight on a key cocktail ingredient or style of gin. This month, we’re taking a closer look at barrel-aged (or barrel-rested, as they are sometimes known) gins.
In this fantastic feature, you’ll discover how barrel-aged gins are made, some of our favourite craft barrel-aged gins and some fantastic ways to drink them. If you like whiskey and gin then these will be right up your street!
What are barrel-aged gins?
Barrel or cask-aged gins are gins that have been ‘aged’ by being steeped in casks or barrels. Gins can be aged in all types of wooden casks and barrels, including oak and ash, and are often placed in barrels that have been used to age other liquids such as port, wine and bourbon.
Is it a new process?
Ageing gin is not a new process. Genever, the Dutch precursor to gin, was often aged in gin barrels during transportation. Before the 1861 Single Bottle Act, gin was typically stored and transported in wooden barrels.
How are barrel-aged gins made?
Once the gin has been distilled, it is then rested in barrels for a period of time. This can vary between distillers and can be a matter of weeks or months.
What do barrel-aged gins taste and look like?
Barrel-aged gins tend to take on the flavours and qualities of the barrels they are steeped in, and can often assume spicy, nutty or vanilla notes as well as a heightened depth of flavour. In addition to imparting additional character to the gin, barrels can also give gins a golden-orange hue, depending on how long the liquid has been steeped for.
These characteristics often make barrel-aged gins a great alternative to whiskey.
Which are the best barrel-aged gins? Here are four that you need to try!
Chemist Spirits Barrel Rested Gin
This gin has the standout flavours from Chemist’s American Gin (our July 2021 Gin of the Month!), such as rose and citrus, intertwined with freshly-charred American white oak barrel notes that include creamy caramel and warm vanilla flavours.
“We only put it in a barrel for a few weeks at a time, that way it is almost an Old Tom-style gin, as it pulls some natural sweetness out of the barrel. You get some of that barrel flavour and complexity that comes with an aged spirit, but it’s still so soft that you can drink it on its own without it being overpowering.”
Campfire Cask Aged Gin
Made in Hertfordshire, Campfire’s London Dry gin is rested in American oak barrels – that once held bourbon –for twenty-two days to create this delightful tipple. Rich and complex notes of juniper, citrus, vanilla, caramel and candied fruit all come to the fore, alongside a bourbon-like sweetness on the finish.
Cask Aged Sunshine Cuckoo Gin
Cask Aged Sunshine Cuckoo Gin is made by resting Sunshine Cuckoo Gin in ex-bourbon barrels for 60 days. In that time, the gin takes on some of the barrels’ woody and whisky flavours, which perfectly complement Sunshine Gin’s honey and berry notes.
Three Wrens Raspberry Modena Cask Finish Gin
This unique gin from Lancashire is rested in Italian barrels that were once used for aging balsamic vinegar. At once deliciously sweet and savoury, this rich and moreish tipple is brimming with berry flavours, as well as notes of basil, peppercorn and cacao nibs.
How do I drink barrel-aged gins?
Barrel-rested gins taste delicious in a whole host of cocktails. They can be used to put a ginny twist on cocktails that traditionally feature whisky, bourbon or rum. They’re also delicious in a G&T, or even sipped neat.
Here are three of our favourite barrel-aged gin cocktails:
Barrel-Aged Negroni
“I recommend Campfire Cask Aged Gin for this cocktail. It adds a lovely smoked flavour to the drink, which is a twist on the classic Negroni.”
25ml Campfire Casked Aged Gin
25ml Campari
25ml sweet vermouth
Lemon peel, to garnish
Add all the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir well to chill and dilute. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice and garnish with a twist of lemon peel.
Gin Old Fashioned
“The Old Fashioned is a way to drink barrel-aged spirit more than it is a cocktail. Back in the day, it was popular to request a glass of whisky served the ‘old fashioned’ way.”
60ml Chemist Barrel Rested Gin
5ml (1 tsp) Simple Syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Orange peel, to garnish
Add all the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir well to chill and dilute. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice and garnish with a large twist of orange peel.
Gin Mint Julep
“This refreshing summer drink is the tipple of choice for the Kentucky Derby, where more than 120,000 mint juleps are said to be served during the race weekend.”
6 mint leaves
60ml Three Wrens Raspberry Gin Modena Cask
5ml Vanilla Syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Raspberries, to garnish
Slap the mint leaves between your palms and add them to a julep cup or rocks glass. Add crushed ice to the halfway mark, and pour the other ingredients in. Give it a good stir and top with more crushed ice and pour two dashes of Angostura bitters on top. Garnish with a mint sprig and a couple of fresh raspberries and serve with a (preferably) metal straw.
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