Half Hitch Gin

Half Hitch Gin

Produced in the former warehouse vaults of Camden Lock, Half Hitch Gin is made using a gin base that is blended with tinctures of black tea, pepper, hay, English wood and bergamot.

The Half Hitch name and bottle label stems from the type of rope knot – a round turn and two half hitches – used by those mooring up their barges along Camden Lock. To create Half Hitch Gin, they take a base gin distilled at Langley’s and add distillates in addition to tinctures that they make in Camden Lock to create a bespoke blend of Gin unique to them.

Malawian black tea and Calabrian bergamot are the two key elements to Half Hitch Gin. The whole loose tea blend is from different harvests, fields and tea varietals across the estate. The key ingredient of black tea is re-blended each season to achieve the optimum flavors and achieve consistency. The bergamot, a natural cross between a bitter orange and a lemon, is sourced from ancient citrus groves in Calabria, Southern Italy.

Taking a base gin consisting of angelica root, cassia bark, coriander seed, juniper, licorice root, sweet lemon, orange peel, orris root, they add tinctures of black tea, bergamot, wood & pepper as well as a vacuum distillate of hay. Bottled at 40% ABV, Half Hitch Gin has an auburn hue reminiscent of lightly barrel-aged gins.

Half Hitch Gin has distinct aromas of sticky, waxy pine and zesty lemons. To taste black tea is much more prominent, so too is the bergamot and cracked pepper. Both flavors combine to form a rich caramel, slightly sweet and viscous feeling. It’s not a particularly layered or subtle gin in terms of a flavor journey but the flavors are smooth, complex and exceptionally tasty. There is a prolonged finish with tea and dry pepper lingering behind. Half Hitch Gin makes for a very enjoyable G&T and it’s easy to see why they suggest using it in a modern version of the classic gin cocktail, The Bronx, which uses orange juice.