Hendrick's
Sunspell
- Scotland
- 43.4% ABV
- 1000 ml
Citrus-ledFloralSpiced
No tasting record in the catalogue yet, so read it by the name: Sunspell points to citrus and warmth over a Hendrick's frame — juniper kept soft, floral rather than piny, faintly green. At 43.4% it carries more weight on the palate than the standard bottling, with a dry, peppery finish.
Serve
Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic
1:2 — the floral tonic follows the Hendrick's style rather than fighting it
Garnish — A wide strip of grapefruit peel, twisted over the glass
Cocktails
White Negroni
Bitterness here is bright rather than heavy: gentian's clean, rooty bite against the honeyed weight of blanc vermouth, with grapefruit oil sharpening the top. The gin has to push back, so juniper and a firm spine keep it from turning syrupy, though a floral bottle finds room in the finish.
The extra 43.4% ABV of this Sunspell bottling holds its shape against Suze and vermouth, where the softer standard Hendrick's gets buried.
Bee's Knees
Honey rounds off the citrus edges, so the sour never bites, and the orange juice softens the lemon while giving the drink weight. That ease is the problem the gin has to solve: juniper and pepper keep it from collapsing into breakfast, and a floral bottle finds room to speak inside the honey.
Honey syrup would smother a piny gin, but this bottling's soft floral juniper sings through it while the citrus-led warmth and dry peppery finish keep the honey from turning it into breakfast.
Gin & Tonic
Long, dry and bitter-edged, the tonic's quinine pulling against the gin's botanicals while the lime wedge sharpens both. Refreshing rather than contemplative. The gin has to hold its shape against all that dilution: juniper and citrus carry through, where delicate florals tend to vanish.
The citrus that the Sunspell name promises is what quinine lengthens best, and 43.4% carries those soft florals through the ice and tonic where the standard 41.4% Hendrick's would thin out.
