Craft Gin Club Gin Advent Calendar - Gin Advent Calendar filled with 24 x 5cl

24 doors in dark green card, and behind each one a small bottle from somewhere you have probably never been. Hobart. Colchagua. Hanoi. Quebec. Orkney. Craft Gin Club has gathered small distilleries from five continents and hidden seven of them, so nobody knows what is waiting until the door swings open.

Expert's Description

Craft Gin Club Gin Advent Calendar is a Gin Advent Calendar holding 24 miniature bottles of 5 cl, bottled at between 26 and 46% and drawn from small and mid-sized distilleries in Britain and far beyond.

Seventeen of the gins are named on the box. The other seven are mystery gins, revealed only when the door is opened, and they sit at 40 to 43%. Among the named ones are Cotswolds Cloudy Christmas Gin from Warwickshire at 46%, Kirkjuvagr Yuletide Gin from Orkney, Whitby Distillery's Demeter Edition from North Yorkshire and Salcombe Gin's Start Point The Azores Edition from Devon. Further from British soil you find Forty Spotted Tasmanian Dry Gin from Hobart, Gin Provincia Andes Dry Gin from Colchagua in Chile, Sông Cái's Việt Nam Dry Gin from Hanoi and 3 Lacs Lemon & Sunflower Gin from Quebec.

The styles run wide. Some are classic and fresh, like Sky Wave's White Horse London Dry Gin from Oxfordshire and Great Glen's Light & Zesty Highland Gin from Loch Ness. Some are plainly Christmassy: Forged Spirits Winter Gin from West Yorkshire, St Davids Christmas Edition Gin from Pembrokeshire, Manchester Gin's Under the Tree Gin and Pennington's Lakeland Moon Snowfell Gin from Cumbria. Then there are the ones rooted in a place: The Fynoderee Distillery's Manx Dry Elder Shee Gin from the Isle of Man and Lantic's Morva Gin from Cornwall. Thicket & Thistle Sloe Gin from Hampshire is the weakest in the box at 26%, and the only one leaning towards sweet and velvety rather than dry.

Behind the box is Craft Gin Club, a British gin club based in Corby that sends its members a new craft gin every month. The calendar is that idea in fast-forward: 24 small bottles picked by the club from the distillers it calls its Family of Distillers. In total there are 120 cl of gin in the box.

Tasting Notes

Nose

Citrus dominates. Clementine and warm spice from Cotswolds, pink grapefruit and lemon thyme in the elderflower gin from the Isle of Man, juicy orange at Great Glen. Flowers arrive as elderflower and rose in Morva Gin, and the winter spices are clear in Kirkjuvagr, where frankincense and myrrh meet bright notes of ginger.

Palate

The range is wide. The Tasmanian gin is peppery and green with pepperberry and makrut lime leaves, while Great Glen sets watercress against the orange as a peppery counterweight. Sông Cái leans into spice and fruit from Vietnamese botanicals, Whitby towards flowers, spice and something coastal, and St Davids towards chestnut and fig. Thicket & Thistle is the opposite of dry: rich, fruity and sweet with a soft, velvety body.

Finish

Mostly smooth and rounded. Sky Wave's London Dry Gin is described with a long, balanced finish, while 3 Lacs ends softly after layers of citrus and spice.

Specifications

Name: Craft Gin Club Gin Advent Calendar - Gin Advent Calendar filled with 24 x 5cl
Producer: Craft Gin Club
Region/Country: Gin from around the world
Type: Gin Advent Calendar
ABV: 26-46%
Size: 5 CL per bottle
Number of bottles in the calendar: 24
EAN no.: 5056417801407
Serving suggestion: Gin and tonic over ice with a slice of citrus or lime, one bottle a day. The light Sloe Gin at 26% can also be sipped on its own.

Flavour Profile

Fresh · Citrus · Spicy · Floral · Festive

Did You Know?

Cotswolds Cloudy Christmas Gin turns milky the moment ice or tonic hits the glass. The cause is the high load of botanical oils, which come out of solution when the gin is diluted.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Craft Gin Club Gin Advent Calendar

Which gins are in the Craft Gin Club Gin Advent Calendar?

There are 24 gins, 17 of them named on the box: Cotswolds Cloudy Christmas Gin, Forged Spirits Winter Gin, Forty Spotted Tasmanian Dry Gin, The Fynoderee Distillery's Manx Dry Elder Shee Gin, Gin Provincia Andes Dry Gin, Great Glen's Light & Zesty Highland Gin, Lantic's Morva Gin, Manchester Gin's Under the Tree Gin, Kirkjuvagr Yuletide Gin, Pennington's Lakeland Moon Snowfell Gin, Salcombe Gin's Start Point The Azores Edition, Sky Wave's White Horse London Dry Gin, Sông Cái's Việt Nam Dry Gin, St Davids Christmas Edition Gin, Thicket & Thistle Sloe Gin, 3 Lacs Lemon & Sunflower Gin and Whitby Distillery's Demeter Edition. The remaining seven are mystery gins.

Is the Craft Gin Club Gin Advent Calendar worth it?

Yes, if you would rather taste widely than commit to one large bottle. The calendar brings together small distilleries from five continents, several Christmas special editions and seven gins that stay hidden until opened. Getting 24 different styles any other way would mean 24 bottles, and many of them are hard to find in Denmark.

What are the mystery gins in the calendar?

The mystery gins are seven bottles whose names and origins are not printed on the box. Only the strengths are given: 40, 40, 40, 43, 42, 40 and 40%. Craft Gin Club uses the same idea in its monthly boxes, where members get a surprise gin in every delivery.

How should you serve gins from a gin advent calendar?

A gin and tonic is the easiest route, and the box itself says every gin inside makes a cracking G&T. Use a tall glass, plenty of ice and a garnish that suits the day's gin, such as orange for Great Glen or grapefruit for Fynoderee. The 26% Sloe Gin is the exception and is just as good sipped on its own.

Which tonic suits the gins in an advent calendar?

A neutral tonic with a little bitterness is the safest choice, because 24 very different gins each get room to speak for themselves. For the spiced Christmas gins, a tonic with a bit more citrus works well. See our range of tonic water.

Is the Craft Gin Club Gin Advent Calendar a good gift?

Yes, especially for someone who already drinks gin and wants to branch out. Every door is a small discovery, and there are no repeats across the 24 days. See the rest of our range of Gin.

How should the calendar be stored, and do you have to wait between doors?

The box should be kept somewhere cool and dry. Nothing stops you opening more than one door in a day, but most people prefer one an evening so each of the 24 gins gets its own moment.

Who is behind Craft Gin Club?

Craft Gin Club is a British gin club founded in 2015 that sends craft gins and extras to its members. The calendar was packed in the UK for the club and drawn from its network of distillers.