Month: December 2025

On Advent Gin day fourteen, the lot falls on the Kyoto Distillery’s Ki No Bi Sei dry gin. This gin comes with several botanicals about which I know nothing more than I learn from Wikipedia, so I’ll plunge headlong into tasting.
This is a strong *gin* gin, the most astringent I’ve tasted this month. The first sip gives your tongue a slap—Ki No Bi Sei has no patience for leisurely introductions. Once you’ve caught your breath, though, it reveals more nuances, led by (to my taste) floral notes on a steady juniper platform. As I continue sipping, the citrus notes unfold pleasantly. The end runs to the verge of metallic, but stops short and fades to the juniper. I don’t detect anything that shouts out its Japanese origin, but then I’m honestly not equipped so to do.
Ki No Bi Sei provides an interesting twist on the classic gin. It’s a little thin at the start, but blossoms very favourably if you’re patient. PSA: It’s Navy Strength, 54.4% ABV, so if you’re having more than 1, you might get vividly curtained* faster than you expected to (planning ahead, as of course every civilised person doth).
Good straight-up gin, esp. if you like Japan, I guess.

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* Cf. Madeline Odent, ‘any noun in the entire English language can be a British euphemism for getting drunk, you just add an adverb before and “ed” on the end’.

Not wanting to fall further behind, Advent Gin day thirteen began on schedule with a wee bottle of XII Gin, a bottle that answers the challenge of naming their gin by using the Roman numerals for the *twelve* plants and spices they use in distilling. It is a *gin* gin, for which I am pleased.
It hails from Haute-Provence, and the herbs and spices (1 more than KFC!) do give a distinctive taste. The overall flavour has a fuller base than some gins; this may be what they mean by its ‘rich and authentic taste’ (I disapprove of uneigentlich gins). The herbal and floral notes are reticent, though, so that it tastes as if its pulling its punches. Come on, XII, dial it up a little!
I’ve referred to one or two of the previous offerings as ‘gin for people who don’t like gin’; XII is a good dry gin that’s not likely to give offence, unless from gin lovers who want a bit more punch. I like it well enough, but in a few minutes I won’t be able to form a strong recollection of just how it tasted — while I’m still thinking about that Isle of Harris from a week ago, even the Hoxton Tropical. I don’t think it probable that I’ll reach out to pick a bottle of XII Dry Gin off the shelf.

As the sun sets on the 12th day of Advent Gin, we open our wee dram of Blackeye London Dry Gin. I approach the glass with trepidation—not because I fear the violence associate with the name (or its rugby-playing producers), but cos several aspects of its promotion state clearly and firmly: gimmick. Rugby stars, citrus-forward, donations to a good cause, all sound like excuses to sell a gin whose primary virtues are Sport Stars, Flavour, and Charity rather than, you know, quality gin.
I was wrong to doubt. The leading fruit is not bold but gentle, leading to a proper gin middle with sturdy juniper and supporting herbal notes. The ending tends a little more harsh pepper than I’d like, but I can well imagine others appreciating it. On the whole, it steers an entirely satisfactory between being flavour-led and being strictly botanical. I was going to say ‘… still not quite my thing’, but after allowing the gin time to settle on my tongue, I admire it more than I thought I would (even after overcoming my initial scepticism). Not at all a novelty act, this is an accomplished top tier player. I prefer a greater commitment to juniper and botanicals, but Blackeye would be a welcome addition to my liquor cabinet for visitors who like their gin a little easier to drink, and bless ’em, they should have their tipple too.
My Advent League Table still has Still Pool and Isle of Harris neck and neck, but Blackeye joins the challengers close behind.

Day ten of Advent Gin features Hepple Gin, a welcome gin without adornments. Hepple explains that their process involves vacuum distillation and CO? extraction; their botanicals include juniper (Italian, local, and Macedonian), lemon, and lovage. I found a slightly woody aroma at the start, but the juniper took over when I tasted; the lovage prevails over lemon, though the lemon lingers and provides a firm background for the herbal notes.
I appreciated the unusual blend of junipers, and the lovage mediating to the lemon. It went down well with Fever Tree tonic. One of my favourites so far.

I don’t think the sun ever gets over the yardarm in midwinter in England, but it’s close enough o’clock for me to taste today’s Advent Gin (#9): Bathtub Gin Persian Lime & Orange Blossom. The claim identifies floral notes along with the named flavours; Margaret and I spotted the floral start right away, and I perceive the lime, and, *very* lightly, the orange. The lime and floral definitely linger; I fear the juniper is overshadowed, though not overwhelmed. On continued sipping, though, the juniper substrate stands up. The overall effect reminds me of the Cotswold Hedgerow: sturdy but gentle flavoured drink, well tuned to the gin underlying the additional flavouring but complementing, not treading over the juniper and herbs.
Well suited to a more-than-just-gin G&T (or neat), but I’d be cautious mixing. On the other hand, I’m frugal about mixers anyway. Very fine job…

The sixth day of Advent Gin is Gin Mare, a name I recognised and had been looking out for a chance to try. The distillers emphasise its production with arbequina olives, rosemary, thyme, and basil (among other botanicals). I can’t claim that I could isolate one or another of these, but that’s as much as saying that it’s artfully blended, without allowing any single ingredient to dominate the others. (That’s not strictly true, since I infer that the single prominent flavour that I couldn’t place must be the olives — an agreeable complement to the rest of the gin.)
I like it. You’d want to be careful about what you mix it with, but in a G&T or in a carefully chosen cocktail, this could bring an unusual, subtle note that enhances drinks that lean less toward the sweet and more toward the astringent.

The fifth day of Advent Gin is from Edinburgh, Lind & Lime. The Leith-based distillers recall the anti-scurvy properties of citrus with a lime-forward gin, cut with pink peppercorn and cardamom among other botanicals. The lime is unmistakeable; the peppercorn, perhaps, a strong second; the juniper stands in the background. I miss the juniper, as in several other of the Advent Gins, but if one is going to overdo an added note, lime seems a sensible flavour, as if someone splashed a generous dose of lime juice onto a G&T.
Margaret detected the cardamom, though I couldn’t place it.
I thought I noticed a very slightly sweet note to the body, almost as if it were a cucumber slice (which I do occasionally enjoy with a G&T), but I couldn’t place the source of it.
Still Pool remains #1, and this joins Tobermory and the Kew Gin as next favourites.

Margaret gave me a gin Advent calendar this year, and I’ve been posting what a more expert gin taster would call ‘tasting notes’ on Bluesky — but this is the sort of thing I should keep at hand here, with a new category of its own. I’ll add here the posts I’ve already written, doubling or tripling up in order to catch up. Here’s the first I wrote, more than two weeks ago.

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Day One of the gin calendar is Silent Pool gin, of which the Gin Guild description is good. I noted the juniper right away, and thought I detected elderberry. Strong medicinals, clean and sharp straight-up gin. Strong approval.
In response to someone’s assent, I added: I was pleased — I thought it might favour a twist of lime in a G&T, or a bitter orange.