Bloody Merry gin is a wonderful savoury gin and full of spice. It provides a real counterpoint to some of the more citrus forward gins from Australia and we were taken with it from our first tasting.
Bloody Merry features 8 botanicals, juniper, coriander seed and angelica being traditional botanicals, although Wild Spirits have elevated the juniper and coriander here.
Pepperberry leaf adds some white pepper spice and a herbal quality that suits this gin well. Where bloody merry begins to earn its name is the addition of celery and fresh cherry tomato with some lemon to boot. It’s these fresh, yet savoury flavours that we think stand Bloody Merry apart. You’ll pick some of them on the nose, depending on your batch no. some will come more to the fore than others.
On the palate this gin is a flavour explosion. It’s full of spice around your mouth..not just the upfront, or finish…just all over your mouth. We love it! The mouthfeel of the gin assists this, it’s creamy and viscous to drink and coats your tongue.
As it sits for a bit, those lighter, fresher flavours of tomato and celery become apparent again really rounding out this gin. If you’re tasting this neat and we recommend you do, you’ll be happy to notice the finish is still lingering long after you’ve swallowed.
Our serve suggestion here is to play to the savouriness of the bloody merry gin. Use a quality tonic and garnish with a cherry tomato cut in half, a celery stick and crack a bit of black pepper on top…beautiful!
On the cocktail front, there’s really only one choice for us. The Red Snapper! As the name suggests this gin is just about tailor made for this drink…tomato, celery, spice. It’s 90% of the way there anyway. We recognise tomato juice isn’t to some people’s taste, so don’t hesitate to whip up a negroni, or another favoured cocktail
Red Snapper
30ml Gin (we recommend using Martin Miller’s Gin)
120ml tomato juice
15ml lemon juice
7 drops Tabasco hot sauce
4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
2 pinches celery salt
2 grinds black pepper
Use the salt and pepper to rim your glass (preferably a Collins). Add the rest of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into your glass. Add half a celery stick.to garnish
