London-based fashion photographer Mert Alas has launched a new gin influenced by perfume-making techniques.
Made in Rotterdam, Seventy One Gin was created in collaboration with master distiller Steve Wilson, the former president of Diageo Reserve. Botanicals used in the expression include juniper, angelica, lemon, damask rose, grapefruit and cinchona, which are individually distilled using techniques such as cold infusion, slow infusion, vacuum and copper pot distillation.
The gin is then matured for 71 days in three types of oak virgin casks from Spain, PX Sherry barrels, and French oak. Finally, a distillate of the night-flowering cactus Selenicereus grandiflorus is added to the blend. Grown in extreme conditions, this rare and unusual flower only blooms at night for a few hours once a year
“For me, Seventy One Gin is about reconstructing the idea of what gin means today,” said Mert Alas, who is one half of the photography duo Mert + Marcus, and is known for his celebrity portraits and high-end fashion campaigns.
“I Am obsessed with masterful creations that hold a sense of the strange and beautiful. Seventy one gin is not a spontaneous beauty, it is a carefully meticulous beauty.”
On the nose, the gin is said to deliver layers of “fresh ripe green notes to warm, earthy aromatics, and a distinctive sweetness,” with the addition of the night-flowering cactus lending “a potent vanillin bouquet.” It is caffeinated due to the addition of guayasa tea leaves, and its time in oak gives the liquid an amber colour.
For more information, go to seventyonegin.com