Independent distiller Martin Miller’s has launched “a significant new addition” to its portfolio of gins.
9 Moons is a single cask-aged gin that shares “the same DNA” as Martin Miller’s original gin, with citrus and juniper characteristics. But it is distinctly augmented with a deeper complexity alongside a mix of vanilla sweetness and hints of creaminess from the light oak – apparent in the finish – the brand said.
The idea came into fruition as a result of some experimental cocktail making by an adventurous group of mixologists in New York. They had put Martin Miller’s gin into mini barrels and aged it for several months, and the concept for the barrel-aged addition – launched 17 years after Martin Miller’s gin – was born.
Martin Miller’s co-founder Andreas Versteegh, who had tested the concept with a selection of oak barrels which he had filled and stored in Iceland, said: “Given how much we have derided the idea of ruining great gin by ageing [it], I was stunned at what an intriguing, complex and exciting product came out of the new oak barrel after nine months.
“Starting out as a fun, offbeat activity, I am now very curious to see how people react to this first example of aged Martin Miller’s gin. We will continue experimenting with ageing on a small scale even if it is just for our own amusement, and if another one comes out as well as this one we may introduce it to the public. There is another barrel David [Bromige], my co-founder, prefers that’s been laid down a little over a year, but he feels [it] needs a little more time to rest – but then he’s always been a late riser!”
After experimenting with several barrel types, Versteegh found that they key was to respect the original gin and not over-age it. In the ageing of Martin Miller’s gin, more subtle enhancements were sought that would add depth and emphasise the existing flavours of the gin.
The cask-aged gin has come from a single new bourbon oak cask, filled with high-strength Martin Miller’s gin then aged for nine months, or nine moons, in Martin Miller’s barrel store in Borgarnes, 30 miles north of Reykjavik. Around 2,000 bottles, each individually numbered, were drawn from the cask and then blended at the source to an optimum bottling strength of 40% with Icelandic spring water, adding a smooth quality, the brand said.
9 Moons will be available in the UK in September, coming to the US by Christmas.
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