Ginout launches with gin 'aged from the inside out'

UP Craft Spirits, a venture between award-winning distiller Barney Wilczak and rising cake designer Catia Mesquita, has premiered with an innovative gin from Portugal: the world's first to be aged 'from the inside out'.

In creating the gin, Barney and Catia wanted to use a different approach, striving to produce a gin that was expressive, balanced and didn't conform to any "current template" seen in the industry.

The gin relies on a combination of two ageing techniques; the first sees the liquid aged in traditional port barrels, and the second utilises Portuguese cork alongside a range of botanicals that chart a journey from pine-filled forests to olive groves, from biodiverse cork forests to the sea.

Described by the distillery as "wildly extravagant and expressive", Ginout is designed to illustrate a shared history and one of Europe's most stunning landscapes. It is thought that this is the irst time that cork has been used as a botanical to age spirits, using the natural material's potential to enrich a gin.

Ginout's distiller, Barney, drew his own vision to unify these elements of Portugal, and in doing so conjured up the image of a forest. He noted that, "Here, high notes of conifer buds evoke sun-touched forest canopy. Ageing with cork, toasted to different temperatures to highlight different elements of this vitally important tree, brings out hints of smoke, vanilla, sun-warmed wood and gorse-like coconut."

Catia added: "The influence of tawny and ruby ports brings autumnal notes, rich and filled with wild berries. At the forest floor we find the sweet cocoa and hummus-rich fig leaves. And our Flor de Sal, with its unique appelation in the Algarve, brings a minerality that makes the whole sparkle."

Ginout also strives to show respect and pay homage to its environment in its packaging: labels are hand-printed on carbon-neutral paper; the bottles use natural cork, supporting a major biodiversity hotspot; and the liquid is hand-bottled without chill filtration.

For more information, visit www.ginout.com.

8 December 2020 -