Gins reach 150 thanks to Gin coming to the Inn!!

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NORDES GIN BROUGHT TO THE INN BY OUR CUSTOMERS

Customers have come up trumps once more as Nordes Gin arrives via our gin at the inn!!! This is a Gin outside the boundaries of the traditional, unique character, rebellious, Atlantic. The Gin is a slow and quiet distillation of the Albariña grape, blended with traditional Galician wild aromatic botanics.

It is a100% Galician Gin. So a Northern Spanish Gin and made from a pomace base as opposed to a grain spirit base. This gin is superb with lots of ice, 1724 tonic and a squeezed slice of orange. This gin coupled with our arrivals via Tim our owner and more guests who brought gin to the inn pushes us through the 150 mark.

On the Bar blackboard are advertised our famous gin trays. For a total of £15 you can order three gins, two tonics and we garnish it all up, add ice and you share the tray with friends. It has to be done!!!

 

THIS BUNCH TAKES US THROUGH THE 150 MARK

THIS BUNCH TAKES US THROUGH THE 150 MARK

OUR GIN TRAYS GIVE YOU THE CHANCE TO EXPERIMENT WITH VARYING GINS

OUR GIN TRAYS GIVE YOU THE CHANCE TO EXPERIMENT WITH VARYING GINS

 

New Gins on way to the Inn

gint2As summer approaches what could be better than a cool, long gin and tonic. As many of you will know the gin market has gone bonkers of late and new Gin is coming to market faster than vodka did some years ago.

Tim our owner is on a trip of Mallorca. The Spanish are, as a nation, one of the biggest consumers of gin in the world and there are always some new special gins and tonics to discover. Last time it was Mallorca’s very own Eleven Gin made from pomace as opposed to grain spirit.

Tim has discovered four new gins which he is ‘bringing back to the Inn’ firstly Goa Gin……. Goa’s exquisite taste stems from eight carefully selected botanical ingredients coupled with a unique distillation process controlled by experts who draw on over 300 years’ experience in London Distilled Gin.

The distillation process starts using a pair of uniquely crafted, small stainless steel stills, where the neutral grain spirit and the botanical ingredients are mixed in a unique process to ensure smoothness and a luxurious taste. Marie Brizard have come up with a gin called ‘Old Lady’s Gin’ another London Dry Gin with an air of tradition although the preferred garnish is grapefruit and coriander, the next two gins are both distilled in France and are both classified as London Dry Gins too. One is No.0 which is infused with quinine and it is advisable to have neat with ice and lemon zest.

gintFinally the next is ‘Blue Ribbon Essential’ it has nicely meshed aromas of anise and nutmeg with a layer of delicate juniper and minerals underneath follow through on a very soft, satiny entry to a vibrant, dryish medium body with wet grain, dried citrus and riverstone notes. Finishes with a layers of dried citrus, and flowers cinnamon and spice melange reminiscent of egg nogg or spiced cake. Try it in a martini.

So the Cholmondeley Arms welcomes four more gins as we head toward the magic 150 gins on the back bar. Tim also discovered a unique Tonic (pictured) which he will bring back for Gin Class teachers Struan and Steve to try!!

A GnT?

Gin classes off with a bang!!!

gin3The Cholmondeley Arms Saturday afternoon Gin tasting classes have got off to a great start!! As we reached the 140 gin mark (just 21 behind the Guinness book of records) Terry and his family, celebrating his birthday, were first off. As the picture shows Terry and his family wasted no time after their training to get home and mix some serious G’n’T’s!!

The class consists of tasting the six styles of Gin, tasting four different tonic waters, learning about botanicals, gin history and the perfect serves. You then get to order your favourite of the ones tested as a complete Gin and Tonic!! There is a warm up quiz and lots of fun and banter in the name of gin!! You can see our ‘Gin Champion’ Struan taking a class through their paces with our landlord Steve as the ‘assist’.

If you want to come and enjoy our gin tasting classes then book your party (maximum 12) in on a Saturday afternoon with Steve or Struan and become a gin expert!! Remember we also have 6 bedrooms if you want to stay and make a night of it!!

 

TERRY AND THE FAMILY BACK AT HOME AFTER TRAINING!!

TERRY AND THE FAMILY BACK AT HOME AFTER TRAINING!!

Beefeaters

Beefeaters

OUR GIN CHAMP STRUAN LEADS ANOTHER CLASS!!

OUR GIN CHAMP STRUAN LEADS ANOTHER CLASS!!

 

140 Gins now at the Cholmondeley Arms

140With the arrival of four new gins the 140 Gin ‘barrier’ has been surpassed. It is hard to believe just under a year and a half ago we opened the doors to the new Cholmondeley Arms where we thought we had done well to have 40 gins on our bar. The Gin market has grown significantly since we decided gin was the thing at Cholmondeley. Now we have added 100 more gins which is fantastic. We are now 27 from the Guinness Book of records!! The new additions include two different gins from Gordon’s and Tanqueray!!!

Just the Tonic!!

Here at the Chum we have now agreed regular supply of 1724 tonic. This premium tonic is great as a non-alcoholic drink with lots of ice and a slice of orange or as recommended on our gin quarterly with Sloanes Gin and a slice of lemon and orange. We are now in search of our 10th and 11th tonics as the pictures show. Tim our owner discovered these Tonics in Mallorca and we are now searching them out to hopefully add to our portfolio. The world of Gin is growing as so too is the premium tonic market. So next time you are here at the Chum talk tonic when ordering your gin!!

 

1724 Tonic restyled and in stock

1724 Tonic restyled and in stock

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Two Gins are brought to the Inn

Farmers Gin is Inn!!

Farmers Gin is Inn!!

Sprock Caribanana Gin is the weirdest Gin to arrive so far. It is from the Caribbean! As part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, many citizens were accustomed to the “Jenever” of the Netherlands and enjoy this popular “Dry Gin”.

The Distillery House is located in Sharloo, an old and quaint section of the city of Willemstad Curaçao, which was nominated one of the Unesco World Heritage Cities in the Caribbean. The House was founded in July 1929 by the late Don Jaime Antonio Jose Sprock.

Out of the desire to exceed customer’s expectations by providing quality products at affordable prices, Don Jaime began the factory with bottling of its own brand of rum for local consumption; “Ron Superior”  in a variation of sizes; In the next 10 years, he had also created his own Vodka and Gin. This is his Gin……… mmmmh we will let you decide!!

Also arrived is the Farmers Gin from the U.S.A as detailed below so see you soon to try a tot or two.

Sprock

Farmers is on its way from the U.S!!

farmersYes thanks to regular Chris ‘Gin is coming to the Inn’ this time from the U.S in the form of Farmers Organic Gin …..Big thanks to Chris you can read about the gin below. If you want to ‘Bring Gin to the Inn’ email us from your holiday in Europe or the US and we will confirm whether we have the gin you have found. If we haven’t please bring it back with a receipt and we will pay you back for it as well as paying you £10 in Cholmondeley vouchers to buy a couple of Gin and Tonics on us!!

Botanicals in Organic Balance

Farmer’s Organic Gin is handcrafted in small batches from carefully selected botanicals and the purest grains. Providing a pristinely clean palette for the artful infusion of botanicals, the distillate is made from sustainably farmed grain grown in the U.S. Certified organic by the USDA, Farmer’s Gin possesses a complexity and unique taste profile due to its remarkably balanced selection of organic botanicals, including juniper, elderflower, lemon grass, coriander, and angelica root.

Why they call it Farmer’s

In order to produce a flavorful organic gin, they sought out farmers dedicated to sustainability and preserving the earth. They found four farms growing organic crops that could help them create the highest quality organic gin. They think that there is no better way to honour their farmers than by naming our organic gin after them.

lady-farmer

New Gin Quarterly arrives

Spring is on its way…honest!!! To celebrate Steve, Tim, Ben Stru and Monika have been looking at their next top ten gins to share with you for the coming season from the wonderful selection on the back bar here at Cholmondeley.

The selection covers some of the most innovative gins on our shelves not least the Mallorca gin named Eleven featured in news below. The new Gin quarterly will launch on January 30th 2013 so come on down and enjoy the taste of Spring!!

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First Craft Gin to come from Mallorca!!!

Two years ago I stood in the vineyards of Ca’n Vidalet in the northwest of Mallorca approximately one and a half kilometres from Pollenca. I was keen then to get Mallorcan wines recognised for their quality back here in England and more specifically at our first pub in Cheshire the Bulls Head. I am back again in Mallorca looking at wine and spending more time researching the growth in Gin here on the Island. To my surprise I found that the vineyard of Ca’n Vidalet is a craft Gin distillery as well as an exceptional
winery now.

‘Eleven’ is a gin made from…no surprises here…eleven Botanicals. This gin is different though it has been developed from a Pomace base that would normally be used to make Grappa. The botanicals are typically Mediterranean, with rosemary, Thyme and coriander, there are floral and citrus notes but this gin is pure and I mean really pure!! Gin Mare the most famous Spanish Gin would struggle against this excellent craft gin.

It is the first gin produced completely on the Island and a bottle will soon be on the bar of The Cholmondeley Arms served with a less sweet tonic and a piece of lemon zest and ice this is a distinctly different gin.

Hopefully our import will be here for Christmas in the meantime wait patiently!!!

We have introduced some new gins to our ever growing collection.

The Dram. As in this 164 years old drawing, most people then were drinking their gin neat at the London ‘gin shops’ or ‘dram shops’.

The Norwegian Hammer Gin is among the purest of its kind, created with wild herbs and spices and produced according to a 200 year-old tradition. Using double pot still distillation with a unique filtering process extracts the purest flavour from the herbs, giving the product a clear, rich taste. Pure nose with a distinct aroma of juniper berries and a hint of citrus. Crispy, fresh and with a definite taste of juniper berries and elements of citrus. Refreshing aftertaste with a distinct dryness.

The French G’Vine Gin is small batch distilled from neutral grape spirit with fresh whole-fruit botanicals softened by the infusion of vine flower. Coming from all over the world, nine rare and fresh whole-fruit botanicals chosen for their purity and aromatic and healing properties – ginger roots, liquorice, green cardamom, cassia bark, coriander, juniper berries, cubeb berries, nutmeg and lime – are infused by family during 2 to 5 days and distilled in the grape neutral spirit in small liqueur-maker stills to get the best quintessence.

Infusions of vine flower and fresh botanicals are then blended together and copper-pot distilled a last time to get an ultimate and perfect smoothness and personality.

Bombay Dry Gin is one of the great old-school style London Gins, Bombay Original was first introduced in 1959 and is the precursor of the now more famous Bombay Sapphire. Much drier and more traditional.

 

Gins up to 115 in our first year!!!!

Yes we have completed a year of being open as the ‘new’ Cholmondeley Arms. September being the month we opened last year 2011. We set our stall out then to be the best pub in Cheshire for the enjoyment of a Gin and Tonic (amongst many other things of course!!) and in turn create a legend.

Little did we know 18 months ago when Tim first visited the ‘Chum’ and decided Gins were definitely the thing to do here, that gin would have become so popular with micro/craft distillers popping up everywhere.

Trips to different parts of the UK and Europe have helped teach us so much about this famous and slightly infamous spirit. The glass, the fruit, the botanicals, the ice, the tonics and of course the gins themselves have all been explored.

We run an annual amateur Fruit Gin making competition, we have guest speakers such as James Chase from the Chase Distillery talking through Gin. We have tasting sessions for those guests that want to learn just a little bit more about Gin and its history. We operate ‘Bring Gin to the Inn’ where customers themselves can search out Gins on our behalf and be rewarded for doing so.

Our aim was to start with the ‘Cholmondeley Top Forty Gins’ in our house ‘Gin Bible’ and add to our collection through our pro-active Gin suppliers, our enthusiastic team and of course our customers who have all brought ‘Gin to the Inn’ over the last year from as far afield as the States and the Far East.

We have built our collection now to 115 different gins. We are the biggest purveyor of Gin in Cheshire, in fact the north of England and in our second year we aim to make the Gin Bible more informative, have Gin Quarterlies that focus the guest on new craft gins as well as some classics changing the list four times a year, add value to our ‘Gin Tasting Classes’ and of course build our collection and our knowledge. So come and help us…enjoy a classic Gin and tonic with us. Thank you to ALL our customers who have supported us in our first year!!!! We are so grateful for your business.

Gins burst through the 100 mark!!!!

Yes it has happened………… the Cholmondeley Arms is the biggest purveyor of Gin in Cheshire and probably the north of England!! 106 Gins now grace the shelves of our fabulous back bar!! Having just got back from Mallorca with a bottle of the Menorcan, Port Mahon Gin and a Larios Dry Gin from Spain it was to my great surprise that I found that we had, had a further ten gins brought to the Inn by various ‘shy’ locals!!

While in Mallorca I found the growth in passion for all things Gin to be phenomenal. As you can see in the picture two bartenders worked on mixing gins with flair for us on a balmy evening by the ocean (yes we brought the weather back) and the final presentation in the glass was excellent. Great lessons learnt for how we can develop further the gin service here at ‘the Chum’.

Sometimes we have to remind ourselves we have only been open as the new Cholmondeley Arms eight months and we have come a long way with gin…………………… Fruit Gin making Championships, Gin tasting evenings, Talks on Gin from various Gin distillers such as James Chase, the ‘Bring Gin to the Inn’ concept, and shortly the ‘Complete Gin List’ which we
are working on as I write this.

If you are interested in gin email us regarding Gin tasting Evenings. We look forward to hearing from you!!

Gins fly in from the USA!!!

Local regulars and Gin enthusiasts have brought ‘Gin to the Inn’. Chris & Dawn have been on holiday to the USA, and have brought back 3 gins for us that we previously didn’t have.

Number 92 on the Gin shelf is a gin called American Pride we are trying to get more information on this gin but it is proving difficul!! Nevertheless Stru’ and Steve say it is a really good traditional juniper gin and I believe them!!! At number 93 on the shelf is Fleischmann’s (America’s 1st Gin according to the Bottle). A light smooth gin. Fleischmann’s was the first American-made gin, starting in 1870. Fleischmann’s has a lighter gin taste, making it more mixable.

At number 94 on the list is Nicholas Gin and this one is amazing, the yanks seem to be doing something right…. Nicholas Gin Description is of standard proof, is distilled in USA and is a modern gin. This untraditional gin contains flavours from lavender, rose hips, and hibiscus. It is distilled by Fat Dog Spirits.

So remember we are always looking for gins and a massive thanks to Chris and Dawn (below) who add themselves to the ‘Bring Gin to the Inn Club’

We have many customers who like gin, who also like to travel and may find gins we don’t stock on those travels…. so…….we came up with ‘Bring Inn the Gin’ and here’s what you have to do.

  1. Find a gin and make sure we don’t stock it.
  2.  Buy the Gin and keep the receipt, this can be in Sterling, Euros (while they last!!) and American dollars
  3. Bring the Gin to the Inn.
  4.  Present the gin and if we don’t stock it already we will pay you the value of your receipt. (The seal on the bottle must be intact of course)
  5. As a bonus we will also give you a £10 Cholmondeley gift voucher for each bottle of gin brought Inn!!
  6. So for the new ‘Gin Supplier’ it’s a ‘win, win’ on the ‘gin,

Gins hit the 90 mark!!!

Unbelievably the gin collection here at the Cholmondeley Arms has now gone through the 90 barrier!!!

In at number 86 is a gin brought in by a kind customer who was taking advantage of our now famous….”bring Gin to the Inn” promotion (see events page here on the website) where we pay for the unique gin you bring and reward you with £10 of Cholmondeley vouchers at the same time!!!

New Beefeater London Market Limited Edition Gin

Hot off the press comes the news of another unique Beefeater Limited Edition gin. This time Master Distiller Desmond Payne has followed in the footsteps of Beefeater founder James Burrough who in the nineteenth century sought out the best ingredients he could find in London’s celebrated food markets such as the original Covent Garden. So the new gin contains new ingredients found today on London’s market stalls such as pomegranate seeds, kaffir lime leaves and cardamom pods.

With over 40 years in the industry, Desmond Payne is the world’s most experienced gin distiller and at the heart of Beefeater’s innovation. As Desmond explains: “By using these exotic botanicals, I wanted to create a gin that captures the drinker’s imagination, reminding them of the aromas, tastes and charm of London’s bustling markets in the summertime.”

And what do these new botanicals bring? The use of pomegranate produces a berry-like note to introduce a complex and balanced progression of flavours on the palate. Beefeater’s traditional citrus notes of lemon and bitter orange are complimented by the softer lime flavour of Kaffir lime leaves whilst the sweet spice aromas of cardamom gently soften the gin on the palate.

At number 87 is Bluecoat American Dry Gin

Bluecoat American Dry Gin is distilled using a variety of organic juniper berries. The taste is spicy and earthy, with notes of citrus peel and other organic botanicals.

At number 88 is Imagin Dry Gin

Imagin is comprised of juniper and twelve further botanicals. On the palate, this gin has complex notes of herbs, spices and citrus, all balanced perfectly and means Sweden is represented on the gin ‘back bar’.

At number 89 is Mayfair Gin

Mayfair gin has a big hit of juniper, followed by a touch of spice and a residual sweetness. This is a well-balanced gin with a long finish.

And then finally the number 90 is the exceptionally special Lighthouse Gin from New Zealand

Lighthouse™ Gin is, first and foremost, a New Zealand gin.

Whilst the history of gin goes back to at least the mid-fifteenth century in Holland, its true antecedents are much earlier, founded in those first experiments in the ancient and mysterious art of distilling in the presence of herbs and spices.
The predominant flavour and aroma of a modern distilled dry gin will always come from juniper and coriander, but the great challenge for the distiller is to select and blend a variety of additional, exotic botanicals to impart a uniquely satisfying, balanced character to the gin.

Lighthouse Gin

For Lighthouse™ Gin Neil took pleasure in researching and experimenting with many such botanicals, and, among those finally selected, after several years of trial, are the dried leaves from the unique New Zealand botanicals kawa kawa, together with the fresh zest of New Zealand-grown navel oranges and Yen Ben lemons, the intense-flavoured descendant of the famous Lisbon lemon. These components lend herbal and citrus notes to the gin, distinguishing it from its English and American counterparts.

Lighthouse™ Gin is made by hand in the classic ‘distilled dry gin’ tradition, utilising nine botanicals in their natural state. The distillers create the gin in a 200-litre copper still, which Neil designed himself, and had specially built by local craftsmen at 2K Design in Masterton.

The final formula of Lighthouse™ Gin must remain a secret, but the distillers believe they have achieved a distinctive and complex gin that is smooth and fresh and combines herbal, citrus, and spicy characteristics, with a subtle delicacy. The double distillation process is costly and time-consuming but results in a softer, more refined, and more approachable spirit, with each batch having its own subtle signature.

To answer the question – does this gin reach new heights? Well, from all reports coming back from the experts and connoisseurs, it does. And in the great tradition of kiwi quality and reputation, it is a worthy newcomer.

Lighthouse™ Gin is hand crafted, hand bottled, hand labelled, and the heart cut of a small number of distillations is double distilled and combined into a batch.