Hendrick’s Gin Orbium Quininated Limited Release

Hendrick's arrived in 1999 and changed the conversation around gin; Orbium is Master Distiller Lesley Gracie's more experimental turn on it. Keeping the brand's rose and cucumber base, she folds in quinine, wormwood and blue lotus, ingredients borrowed from the world of tonic and vermouth, to push the spirit toward something more bitter and complex. The result is a limited release built for drinkers who like their gin to ask questions.

The nose is clear and complex, unexpectedly fresh. The palate runs deep and floral with an unusual bitterness underneath, those tonic and vermouth notes giving it the shape of a cocktail half-made, before a long, slow finish. Treat it as a head start on a Martini, stirred with a dry vermouth and a twist of lemon to draw out the quinine edge.