FIFTY/50/GIN Review
When someone writes to you and tells you they’re going to send you a sample of a spirit that’s like nothing you’ve ever tasted before, the BS Detector usually kicks in.
If it’s like nothing you’ve ever tasted before, there’s probably a good reason for that: that no-one has ever wanted to taste it before. However, every once in a while the statement is true, and that’s certainly the case with this unique FIFTY/50/GIN.
The House of MacDuff
The gin is made by the House of MacDuff, a company run by mother-and-son team Jane and Iain MacDuff in Renfrew, a small town just outside Glasgow in Scotland. Amongst other things, they’re famous for making what according to the Guinness Book of Records is the smallest bottle of whisky in the world.
The company makes several other very special whiskies, and have now produced their first gin, although it’s a gin whose origins are also in whisky.
FIFTY/50/GIN History
The story of the gin goes back twenty years, when the company bought some gin from an English distillery. It was a fairly conventional gin recipe, with juniper berries, coriander, cassia bark, cinnamon, angelica, orris root, liquorice, lemon and sweet orange peel. The Scottish gin market – and the gin market generally – was nowhere near as big then as it has become in the last few years. So they thought they would sit on the gin for a while, but also wondered (as curious distillers do) what would happen if they aged it in barrels. Back then, no-one was ageing gin in barrels either.
They put the gin in new oak casks, hoping to infuse sweet vanilla, ginger and strong oak flavours into the gin, and obviously not knowing how long they would age it for as they had no idea what would happen. In the end, tasting it as they went, the gin spent ten years in those casks.
Photograph by Martin Shields
www.martinshields.com
After ten years they realised this was all getting quite interesting, but they hadn’t finished yet. Enter the whisky. As they were whisky distillers, they decided to use some ex-whisky barrels to mature the gin further. The gin ended up spending another ten years in these barrels, which not only imparted flavours but also turned it into a lovely golden brown colour.
The team still wasn’t finished, however. By now they weren’t sure if the gin was still really gin, as the juniper taste was no longer prominent. To bring back the juniper they experimented and mixed the new spirit 1:1 with unaged gin made to the same original recipe. This time, they were happy. Their work was done!
The Bottle
Now the gin went into its third set of barrels, only this time the barrels were made of glass, making for the most fun bottles I’ve seen in a long time: bottles in the shape of a barrel. Even my little miniature tasting sample was in the same style of bottle, and now it’s empty (which didn’t take long) this one is definitely staying on the shelves, perhaps with some whisky or rum decanted into it to highlight the cool shape.
www.martinshields.com
FIFTY/50/GIN Review
So, having produced what they say is the oldest gin in the world, because no-one has aged gin for twenty years, what does it taste like? Is it really like nothing I’ve ever tasted before? The answer is: absolutely.
Although it looks more whisky than gin, it’s the opposite on the nose. It has that whisky complexity, yet also that hit of juniper and other aromas you associate more with gin. There’s a vanilla sweetness to it as well, with some oakiness and fresh citrus. It definitely makes you think: ‘Wow, what is this?’
On the palate the juniper is less evident, but the vanilla sweetness is emphasised by some caramel flavours too. The citrus is still there as well. On the nose it’s more like a gin, on the palate more like a whisky, and even reminded me of tequila. It’s super-smooth and warming going down, with a sweet aftertaste.
So yes, it isn’t like anything I’ve ever tasted before, and it’ll be a long time before I taste anything like it again, I’m sure.
Buying FIFTY/50/GIN
As the FIFTY/50/GIn is also a potent 50% proof, it’s a shame they couldn’t sell it for £50, but it worked out at £55 for a 50cl bottle. So it is a little on the pricey side but believe me, you really won’t have tasted anything like it. No BS Detector needed. It’s also a limited edition of only 1,994 bottles and it could well become a collector’s item so you might want to buy two – one to drink and one to save. It’s available on the House of MacDuff website and also at Master of Malt.