Kapriol Dry Gin Artigianale Italiano

Kapriol is made in small batches in the Italian Alps, its recipe reworked from a historic herbal liqueur of 1948 and brought up to date. The house uses only Italian botanicals: juniper berries gathered in the mountains, hop flowers, bay leaves, oregano and rosemary among them. What is most telling is what is missing. There is no citrus here at all, so the gin's freshness has to come from the interplay of Alpine herbs and spices, which gives it an unusually clear regional identity.

The nose is fresh juniper with rosemary and bay and a quiet floral edge. The palate is spicy and harmonious, juniper meeting herbal notes, a slight bitterness and a subtle sweetness underneath. It finishes long, dry and refreshing. Pour it into a gin and tonic with a dry tonic and a sprig of rosemary to draw out the herbs, or stir it into a Negroni where its spicy freshness can stand its ground. Lovely, too, alongside Italian antipasti.