Sometimes innocent chats with other bloggers and people I’ve got to know a little through Twitter provides interesting and exciting results…
A few weeks back I was chatting away via another post on Twitter and was made aware of a gin that I’d never heard of… THUNDERFLOWER.
Through the conversation I was having this gin was mentioned and they followed me. So, as is my tradition, I went to their profile and started reading through their website. Now the first impression I got of them was an odd one… I went on the site and saw the gin so I scrolled down and began reading the description and the more I read it the weirder it got but at the same time I thought “sounds interesting… I’d probably still try it!”
Basically what I read was the tasting notes… “toasted oats, nuts, seeds, dried fruit and maple syrup…. the perfect start to your day”… Now… I’m thinking this sounds interesting but surely they can’t be advertising gin as a good start to your day… Bold!… How was I to know these guys also do granola and that I’d scrolled down too far?!
OVERVIEW
These guys are fairly new to the market having only launched last year. Thunderflower is a proud Devon Gin.
You might be thinking… “Thunderflower… That’s a weird name”… And maybe you’d be right but it appears that a thunderflower is an actual flower. I tried to get a photo of one… But let me tell you that it was incredibly difficult seeing as how googling thunderflower brings up loads of images from Super Mario…. I eventually got one and here it is…
Anyway… The gin… The husband and wife team from Devon decided on the name whilst researching local botanicals to pop into the gin. The old Dartmoor legend states that the little white stonecrop flower sometimes grow on thatched roofs and could ward off lightening and witchcraft. They felt that if their gin could do that then that’s surely a good thing!… I’ll admit I’m inclined to agree. All we need is their next one to ward off rain and encourage sun and it’s a winner!!!
The gin started life as a private distillation for the couple… A gin designed by them and perfectly suited to their palates. It was only after attending a gin festival that they realised their gin was as good as any they tried that day.
It’s distilled using the one shot pot still distillation run whereby the flavours of the botanicals are extracted by vapour infusion only. Nothing else is added to this apart from distilled spring water to dilute to the desired ABV. The product at this, almost final, stage is left to polish for a week prior to being filtered and bottled. Basically what this means is they leave the gin to rest for a week in 25L stainless steel containers to further enhance the flavours.
This is a London Dry gin but with a spiced side to it.
The botanicals they use include:
cassia bark, fresh sage leaves, heather and green and smoked black cardamom.
PARTICULARS
ABV – 42%
Size – 70cl
RRP – £37.95
Website – Thunderflower Gin… and Granola!
Social media – Thunderflower Twitter
Thunderflower Instagram
Based – Devon, UK
These guys do EVERYTHING themselves… They distill, they bottle, they package and they distribute… The only thing they don’t do is the base spirit… For this they buy in a neutral grain spirit but, for those still new to gin, this is pretty much commonplace and most gin makers will buy this in with only a few having the facilities to create their own.
Its worth being aware that these guys picked up Gold in the 2018 Taste of the West Awards.
MY REVIEW
I was lucky enough to have been offered a sample bottle for review from Anicca who is one half of the husband and wife team that created this gin.
As I have said previously the outcome of the review and my opinion is unaffected by the fact that the bottle has been received free of charge for the purpose of the review.
(for more info in my review policy please click the link —> My Reviews
Anyway… What did I think?
The recommended serve for this is:
40ml gin, 90ml tonic and garnish with lemon.
The first thing you notice with this gin is how smooth it is… When tried neat it’s a very pleasant little nip. London Dry gins are a classic and a personal favourite so this was a good start as it did have that smoothness I often associate with this type of gin.
Taste-wise when tried neat I noticed a stunning spice… It was beautiful. I thought “That’ll be the cardamom then… This lovely, almost smoky spice”.
Not being a neat gin fan I fired in some tonic… Standard light tonic FYI.
I can see why the recommended serve is only 90ml of tonic as that’s just the right amount to take the edge of the alcohol (for those of us that don’t like neat spirits OR those who just enjoy a longer drink) while at the same time retaining the spice that makes this gin something special and a little unusual in this citrus dominated gin world.
SUMMERY
I reckon you can feel the love that went into this gin… Susy Atkins referred to the gin as “superb” and she’s not wrong. I’ve given a wee sample of this to two other people both of whom agree its quite lovely.
There are some lovely spiced gins out there just now and this will confidently sit on any gin cabinet next to the very best of them.
Anicca was also kind enough to send me out a little box of their granola and, I’ll admit I do adore granola but, being a 35 year old child, I don’t normally like the stuff with dried fruit… I like the stuff you’d give your kid with chocolate in it.
… But this stuff was absolutely brilliant… I know this is a gin review but given the fact that they sent me this granola out I felt I should make mention of it. If you’re ordering a bottle of gin, which you absolutely should, fire some granola in your basket aswell as I guarantee you you won’t be sorry… My only regret with the granola is I gave some away for second and third opinions… Which were also positive. I had mine with milk and the second and third opinion had it over yoghurt.
Stay tuned as I have my first EVER giveaway coming very very soon on my Twitter… You might be able to guess what it is….
On that… As always follow me on my social media channels using the links below… They’ve recently been awarded the most interesting social media accounts in my name.
Cheers
Nic x
Nic's Gin and Beer 