Tarquin’s Cornish Crocus Gin 70cl 42% ABV
£41.95
Description
Tarquin’s Cornish Crocus Gin
Tarquin’s hand-selected 13 different botanicals – carefully sourced from both distant and exotic locations around the world as well as Cornwall’s Roseland peninsula – to craft a gin in proud partnership with The Cornish Saffron Company.
JUNIPER ~ from Italy
CORIANDER SEED ~ from Bulgaria
LIQUORICE ROOT ~ from Uzbekistan
ANGELICA ROOT ~ from Poland
ORRIS ROOT ~ from Morocco
GREEN CARDAMON ~ from Guatemala
CINNAMON ~ from Madagascar
BITTER ALMONDS ~ from Morocco
FRESH ORANGE, LEMON & GRAPEFRUIT PEEL
VIOLETS ~ from Devon
SAFFRON ~ Roseland peninsula, Cornwall
As a fully-independent, family-run business, the team at Southwestern Distillery like to celebrate the fact that they do things a little bit differently.
At the heart of their distilling process lie Tarquin’s three 250 litre hand-beaten copper pot-stills.
TAMARA, SENARA & TRESSA
To this day, these stills continue to be fired by direct naked flame and are sealed at the joints with bread dough. These distilling techniques are about as old-school as you can find.
Alongside these original copper pot-stills proudly sits the newest addition to the distillery, FERARRA – a state of the art, one-of-a-kind 500 litre copper still. Championing a combination of the progressively modern and the authentically traditional. Tarquin uses these four stills collectively to create his internationally award-winning spirits.
When it’s time to create this Limited Edition Tarquin’s Cornish Crocus Gin, they first start the process of distilling their flagship Tarquin’s Cornish Dry Gin as the base. To do this, 11 of the botanicals are added to their stills (with the exception of the violets) and left to macerate overnight in a wheat based neutral grain spirit.
In the morning Tarquin simply adds the missing violets to complete the botanical recipe, and then it’s time to fire up the stills.
As the stills heat up Tarquin is constantly monitoring the process, nosing and tasting as the distilled spirit comes off the still at different temperatures. They collect only the purest ‘heart of the distillation’ (achieved when the still has reached the magic temperature of 78’c), collecting and setting aside the ‘heads’ and ‘tails’ cuts (the first and last parts of the distillation) that don’t make the most selective taste and texture grade.
Post distillation, this ‘hearts cut’ (around 76% abv neat Gin) is cut with de-mineralized Cornish spring water to bring it down to the desired 42% abv. Nothing else is added in true London Dry Gin style.
Every single bottle is then individually hand-filled, hand-labelled, dipped into a slow-cooker filled with paraffin wax, stamped with our Puffin logo, given batch tasting notes and then individually hand-signed.
Tarquin’s truly believe in the value of maximising the human-touch at every stage of the process.
NO SHORT-CUTS ~ NO OUT-SOURCING ~ NO COMPROMISE
When Tarquin puts “Handcrafted in Cornwall” on every bottle, he really does mean it.
One 23 year-old, a classically trained chef from the Cordon Bleu in Paris, somehow finds himself sat behind a grey desk in the city of London. He quickly realises this environment is at odds to what really makes him tick and he serves his notice. He starts to scheme. One idea surfaces, then another, then more. Each building in ambition and each driven by the same guiding principle – the passion to create.
He hones his thinking. One idea takes a hold and quickly becomes an all-encompassing vision. Tarquin, supported by the business acumen and drive of his sister Athene, sets his sights on establishing the first Cornish distillery for over 100 years. Armed with a 0.7 ltr copper pot still, a suitcase stuffed with botanicals weird and wonderful, and a prized surfboard, Tarquin makes his return to the West Country.
He starts with a completely blank canvas. He’s never distilled anything before in his life and so his first task is to begin self-teaching. He starts to collate and consume as much knowledge about distilling as he can lay his hands on. He becomes fixated with experimentation – making individual distillates of any and every botanical he can find. From the traditional to the bizarre. From the foraged to the foreign. Over time he builds an extensive library of flavours, each offering a different profile to the last. Many work. Many don’t. It’s all part of the process – trial and error.
Then comes the time to build, to blend, to balance and to sample. Over 100 different trial gin batches are developed. He plays around with combinations and proportions, tweaking ideas and tastes as he goes. They’re all rated, ranked and refined. A lot of gin is drunk. A lot of smiles had. Some grimaces. Some headaches. But then he hits upon the winner. From his bounty of botanicals, 12 are finally selected – a concoction of roots, spices, nuts, seeds, fruits and flowers sourced from the far corners of the world as well as from his back garden. The precise recipe is finalized and safely documented. It’s then put under lock and key and told to no one else. Tarquin’s gin is ready – now time to start sharing it with the world.
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