Dellavalle Passion Gin

Distilleria Dellavalle in Piedmont is best known for grappa, but here the house turns its hand to a thoroughly modern flavoured gin. A grain-based hydroalcoholic solution is married to juniper distillate, then refined with a spread of exotic fruit extracts: passion fruit, mango, papaya, lychee, pineapple and dragon fruit, with a passion-flower note for lift. Bottled at 43.2 per cent, it stays soft and elegantly structured rather than syrupy, the fruit pitched for mixing.

The nose is all exotic fruit, passion fruit, mango and papaya over fine juniper. The palate is soft and aromatic, intense tropical fruit carried on a gentle sweetness, before a long, fruity, harmoniously round finish. It makes a natural Passion Fruit Gin and Tonic, or build it into a tropical spritz with soda, lime and a sprig of basil.