JD Wetherspoon Gin Festival 2018

JD Wetherspoon Gin Festival 2018 is the first ever JD Wetherspoon Gin Festival since Wetherspoons started in 1979. With 31 gins on offer showcasing wild, native and foraged ingredients from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and Japan… we thought we’d take a look at what’s on at the JD Wetherspoon Gin Festival 2018. Without any further ado, let’s take a look at what gins are on the menu at Wetherspoon’s Summer festival. All gin’s featured in the list below are in alphabetical order.

1. Bathtub Gin, Royal Tunbridge Wells, England (43.3% ABV)
This high-quality copper-pot-still spirit is infused with ingredients including juniper, orange peel, corriander, cinnamon, cloves and cardarmon. Best served with orange garnish.

2. Bombay Sapphire, Laverstoke, England (40% ABV)
A unique vapour-infusion method provides this popular gin’s distinctive flavour. Best served with lime garnish.

3. Brecon Special Reserve, Penderyn, Wales (40% ABV)
Made using water from the beautiful Breacon Beacons National Park. Best served with lemon garnish.

4. Brighton Gin, Brighton, England (40% ABV)
A handmade, small-batch, produced at Brighton’s first (legal) distillery. Best served with orange garnish.

5. Caorunn, Grantown-on-Spey, Scotland (41.8% ABV)
Made with five hand-foraged Celtic botanicals (rowanberry, heather, bog myrtle, dandelion and coul blush apple) in the Speyside region of the Scottish highlands. Best served with apple garnish.

6. Edinburgh Gin Raspberry Liqueur, Edinburgh, Scotland (20% ABV)
Edinburgh Gin, infused with Perthsire raspberries. Best served with lime garnish.

7. Edinburgh Gin Rhubarb and Ginger Liqueur, Edinburgh, Scotland (20% ABV)
Freshly picked spring-crop rhubarb is spiked with oriental ginger and infused with Edinburgh Gin. Best served with lemon garnish.

8. Finni’s Black Bee Gin, West Yorkshire, England (37.5% ABV)
This gin captures the unique floral taste of heather, delicately flavoured with the finest honey, extracted from British native black bees. Best served with orange garnish.

9. Gin Mare, Barcelona, Spain (42.7% ABV)
This is the first Mediterranean gin, with botanicals including basil, thyme, rosemary and the Arbequina olive. Best served with rosemary garnish.

10. Gordon’s, Leven, Scotland (42.7% ABV)
It’s distinctively refreshing taste comes from the finest hand-picked juniper berries and botanicals, Best served with lime garnish.

11. Gordon’s Pink Gin, Leven, Scotland (37.5% ABV)
The refreshing taste of Gordon’s, with the natural sweetness of raspberries and strawberries. Best served with strawberry garnish.

12. Hendrick’s Gin, Girvan, Scotland (41% ABV)
A delightfully curious Scottish Gin, infused with cucumber and rose. Best served with cucumber garnish.

13. Jawbox Single Dry Gin, Belfast, Northern Ireland (43% ABV)
This classic gin becomes more complex on the pallet. Best served with lime garnish.

14. Liverpool Gin, Liverpool, England (43% ABV)
This small-bath gin is made in a copper-pot still, using the finest botanicals to recreate those fruity and aromatic flavours of the past. Best served with orange garnish.

15. Malfy Gin Con Limone, Piedmont, Italy (41% ABV)
This very cirus-forward, fresh gin has touches of woody juniper, bringing character, along with its authentic, bright and mouth-filling lemon notes. Best served with lemon garnish.

16. Masons Dry Yorkshire Gin, Yorkshire, England, (42% ABV)
This smooth, warming gin packs a punch of coriander spice and juniper. Vanilla, fennel and citrus follow, with long, lingering finish of juniper and orange. Best served with orange garnish.

17. Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin, Black Forest, Germany (47% ABV)
Based on a recipe created by an RAF Wing Commander who retired to the Black Forest, this Gin has 47 botanicals. He owned a monkey, hence the name. Best served with pink grapefruit garnish.

18. Opihr Oriental Spiced Gin, Warrington, England (40% ABV)
Bursts of citrus are balanced with rich, earthy aromas and a soft spice. Best served with lime garnish.

19. Plymouth Gin, Plymouth, England (41.2% ABV)
Since 1793, this has been distilled at Black Friars Distillery, the oldest working distillery in England. It has a great depth of flavour, with deep earthy notes and a wonderfully fresh juniper-lemony bite. Best served with lemon and lime garnish.

20. Portobello Road, London, England (42% ABV)
The noted gin of Notting Hill; a big juniper hit, with a burst of lemon citrus, bitter orange, liquoriche and cassia bark. Best served with pink grapefruit garnish.

21. Roku, Osaka, Japan (43% ABV)
Japenese for ‘six’, Roku refers to the six Japenese botanicals. First, there’s green tea two ways; sencha and gyokuro. Cherry, also two ways; blossom and leaves… then yuzu and Japenese pepper. There are also another eight traditional botanicals, bringing the grand total up to 14. Best served with apple garnish.

22. Sharish Blue Magic Gin, Monsaraz, Portugal (40% ABV)
The bright blue colour comes from extracts of a flower known as blue pea; when you mix the gin with tonic, it turns pink! Botanicals also include juniper, coriander, angelica root, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, lemon peel, strawberry and raspberry. Best served with lime garnish.

23. Silent Pool, Albury, England (43% ABV)
This gin’s 24 botanicals are carefully chosen for their uniqueness. Best served with orange garnish.

24. Sipsmith, London, England (41.6% ABV)
This well balanced London dry gin has a classic juniper lead, with a delicate citrus finish. Best served with lime garnish.

25. Tanqueray, Leven, Scotland (43.1% ABV)
A blend of the purest four-times-distilled spirit, with handpicked botanicals, added to the neutral spirit and condensed for a richer, deeper flavour. Best served with lime garnish.

26. Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla, Leven, Scotland (43.1% ABV)
Made with Seville orange essence and botanicals. Best served with orange garnish.

27. Tanqueray No. Ten, Leven, Scotland (43.1% ABV)
Handcrafted from 180 years of heritage, in small, perfectly balanced batches. Best served with pink grapefruit garnish.

28. The Botanist, Isle of Islay, Scotland (46% ABV)
This usual gin from Islay whiskey distillery (Bruichladdich) has no fewer than 31 botanicals, 22 of which are native to the Inner Hebrides island itself. Best served with mint garnish.

29. Whitley Neill Blood Orange Gin, Birmingham, England (43% ABV)
This gin’s intense sweetness has a touch of waxy orange peel balancing it out in the background, along with hints of pepper, cassia and thyme honey joining in along the way. Best served with Orange garnish.

30.Wrecking Coast Clotted Cream Gin, Cornwall, England (44% ABV)
Using the unique approach of building a gin around clotted cream ensures the delivery of its velvety richness, balanced with the traditional notes of juniper. Best served with strawberry garnish.

31. Zymurgorium Sweet Violet Liqueur, Manchester, England (18.7% ABV)
Sweet violets, with their unique sweet pastel-like taste, have been refined with over 20 other botanicals in Zymurgorium gin. Best served with lime garnish.