Family of Hounds Gin

From an entirely unexpected pink gin in my last post... to something very much up my street in this one! 

And boy is this right up my street! 

Family of Hounds is the brainchild of Italian born Andrea, and his wife Lina, who took their love of arguably the worlds greatest spirit, and their beloved pets .... and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Up first is the 9 botanical gin, which isn’t actually a stranger to me having heard of it in passing during my time as a blogger... although the label and therefore appearance, has undergone a couple of overhauls since. However, until now I hadn’t had the pleasure of sampling this Italian inspired gin. 

This little puppy packs a whallop! 

A haymaker of a hit of juniper on both the nose and the pallet is a dream to me so this very much settled into my good books from the get go... then those orange, lemon and grapefruit citrus flavours come right through, rounded off beautifully with a lavender finish which doesn’t overwhelm. The result is STUNNING and I am blown away by the ‘little gin that could!’  Sod all the bells and whistles, this is a gin which proves that less is indeed more, with simplistic packaging and a homely feel to its social media, yet holds it own with the big boys when it comes to taste. This is certainly a gin that more people should be aware of! 

Andreas recommended serve is a dry tonic with grapefruit and rosemary to garnish, I’ve yet to give this a go but i would hasten to agree.  

On to the Nero Pepper, and full disclosure.... I was expecting great things from this one! 

It did not disappoint. 

Pepper is unmistakable and cuts through this like a knife. If you’re looking for subtlety then this is not the gin for you. But if you’re looking for a beautifully made gin with fantastic juniper, citrus and hefty peppery spice... this might be exactly what you’re after! For me, this is absolute bliss! I love a pepper gin at the best of times and this is a great contender in the ring. I paired it with an aromatic tonic, a couple of pink peppercorns and a slice of lemon and it SINGS. This is one for particular tastes but I would highly recommend giving it a go! 

Andreas recommended serve for this one is Ginger Ale with a Rosemary and Cracked Black Pepper garnish. I’m looking forward to giving this a go as all these flavours are right up my alley! 

A huge thank you to the Family of Hounds folk for sending these over to me, I am very much looking forward to experimenting with pairings and cocktails for these two little beauties, so keep your eyes on my insta feed for that! 

In the meantime, head over to www.familyofhounds.com for more info. Available on Master of Malt, the Whiskey Exchange, and Amazon. 

Items kindly gifted as PR Product 

Marie-Jeanne Gin - Massingberd Mundy

Bet you never thought you’d see a pink gin on my blog now did you! ... to be honest, neither did I.

Those of you who have followed me for a while will know I’m not a fan of these newfangled fruity concoctions masquerading as pink gin (I’ve chatted before about what a true pink gin is, and it is certainly not the same as what passes for it these days).

So colour me terrified when the lovely Tristan Jørgensen kindly offered to send me a bottle of Massingberd Mundy Marie-Jeanne  Pink Gin, featuring a fruity profile which I usually steer well clear of... anything with red berry flavourings usually rings alarm bells for me and this is not due to my dislike of the fruit... I bloody love a strawberry or raspberry... however, I have tasted many of these gins, and have been continually unimpressed with the artificial flavourings and overwhelming sweetness, obliterating all semblance of juniper and somewhat negating the point of buying a gin when you could have just bought a strawberry liqueur and got the same taste for half the price.

I’m very much a purist with my gin, I like it to taste like .... gin, weirdly enough 🤷🏽‍♀️ and tend to lean heavily toward a citrus or spiced flavour profile... everything a ‘pink’ gin is not.

So what to make of this one!

Well I accepted this beautiful product PURELY based on the fact that I was so utterly blown away by  their original Burrells Gin (seriously, if you don’t already own a bottle, buy one immediately) that I knew Tristan knew exactly what he was doing, and if nothing else, this would be an exceptionally well made gin. I was not wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, red fruit leaps out at you as soon as you get a whiff of Marie Jeanne, there’s no mistaking that this is a fruity gin. On the nose there’s a beautiful sweet juicy red berry burst. To taste, this is where things really come into their own ...

Gone are the artificial flavourings of poorer quality ‘Pink’ gins (Gordon’s I’m looking at you here) and in its stead are natural flavours, beautifully offset by juniper and citrus notes which create a wonderfully rounded spirit which clearly holds its place as a gin. The sweetness is far from sickly, rather a ‘fresh’ sweetness which took me completely by surprise in the very best way. All in all a fabulous contender from an overly saturated, and poorly represented corner of the gin market.

If you’re a fan of pink gin and would like to taste one done properly ... this is the one for you.
If you’re not a fan of pink gin but you’re willing to have your mind wavered, if not changed... this is the one for you.

Not to mention, she looks rather fantastic on your gin shelf too! I mean, just look at that bottle!!

Another smash hit, home run for master distiller - Tristan. Bravo indeed good sir!

Now before we get too carried away, this has in no way changed my mind on ‘Pink Gin’ as a whole, I am simply saying that this is an excellent example of one. I would still take a London Dry over this every time.... but that’s just my personal tastes. However, if I were to fancy something a little sweet on occasion then this is an excellently made spirit with a wealth of options for pairings. I look forward to trying plenty out.

Shop both the Burrell's, and his ‘mrs’ Marie-Jeanne over at www.southormsbyestate.co.uk