Monkey 47 Distiller’s Cut Gin 2023

Each year Black Forest Distillers release a Distiller's Cut that takes the standard Monkey 47 and adds a single extra botanical, kept secret, chosen to deepen the character of the gin. The 2023 vintage holds to the house method: forty-seven hand-picked botanicals, including wild Black Forest cranberries and local herbs alongside ingredients from further afield, macerated and distilled in small batches, then dressed in a gift box for collectors.

The nose is intense with juniper, herbs and floral accents, lifted by fresh spice from the year's mystery botanical. The palate is complex and balanced over a clear juniper base, fruity and spicy by turns, before a long, delicately spiced finish with elegant freshness. Best explored neat in a nosing glass to chase that rare botanical, though it holds its own in a neutral-tonic G&T.