Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin

Monkey 47 is made by Black Forest Distillers in the small German town of Lossburg, where forty-seven botanicals are macerated in molasses spirit for days before distillation in small copper pot stills. The number nods both to the botanical count and to Montgomery Collins, the Englishman whose 1940s recipe inspired the brand. The exact bill is a closely held secret, but its documented signatures range from classic juniper, coriander and angelica root to foraged regional oddities like spruce shoots, cranberries and blackberries.

The nose is faintly sweet, juniper laced with bright citrus. The palate is balanced and intricate, juniper holding the centre while citrus and a flick of pepper play around the edges, carried by that molasses softness. The finish is long and seamless. Lovely neat over ice, but a featherweight tonic and nothing more lets its complexity speak.