Southern Germany may seem like a strange place to have a wealth of distilling expertise, but with a history of creating fruit liqueurs and brandies as well as being the home of many coppersmiths experienced in building stills, it remains (despite a now more global craft distilling revolution) probably one of the best places to create a new spirit. Which this is definitely not. As a whisky drinker, I find it quite complex, very floral, and almost perfumy on the nose and palate. It is truly an elegant and certainly a connoisseur’s gin. There’s so much going on that I have trouble pulling out the individual essences, and I’m considered to have a pretty discerning palate. Remembering the innovation behind and early days of Monkey 47 Gin, Stein recalls “We didn’t want to create a “brand,” but rather the best gin possible. We set out to produce aromas, not alcohol. For that reason, we shouldn’t be mistaken for typical “spirits producers” or “liquor entrepreneurs”; we are schnapps distillers to the core and, like a perfumer, constantly on the hunt for aromas and fragrances. Simply put the plan was and is quality!” Mixed with Hansen’s Tonic in a Gin and Tonic, sweet pomelo at first with exotic herb garden notes on the after taste. Lemon verbena, lavender, garden mint, lead into a citrus-dominated finish with grapefruit and lemon zest. Quite nice. It really is a fantastic drink, imbibed alone with no adulterants….chilled in the freezer (the bottle is certainly small enough).

Monkey 47 Gin 50cl - DrinkSupermarket

It's hard to see how this could not be labelled as gin, but it really isn't. So don't think about it as such. Fresh and fruity, with a lot of complicated nuance. There’s two levels on which you can enjoy this spirit: firstly, you can just appreciate the way it blends together to create a single powerful presence. Secondly, you can sit down as if to study it and probe the way this myriad of botanicals unravel on your palate. I think it’s rewarding for both kinds of drinkers, and it gets high marks in my book for the complexity and balance. We feel it’s at its best in a dry Martini (4 to 1). It is also worth noting that due to the unfiltered, concentrated nature of the gin, it louches in a G&T so if that is happening for you – don’t fret, that’s normal, just enjoy it! I simply think that there’s plenty of other gins as good at this one that don’t command such an exceptional price. Process wise, Monkey 47’s still size is what many small scale craft producers are working on. Sipsmith has been known to use multiple distillation techniques of the same plant material, their botanical number isn’t even that unusual— with several others in the 30+ space. Really the only thing unusual is the ultra-ultra-premium price point. It’s a good gin as I point out, but gin isn’t like whisky in that price is often correlated with process, i.e. time in the barrel.

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Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin | Expert Gin Review Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin | Expert Gin Review

Stein describes lingonberries as being the ideal botanical in gin, as it inherently has a combination of the flavours that have always defined the spirit, namely a refreshing acidity, lasting bitterness and slight sweetness. Nose: Oh there is a lot going on here... woody, vegetable smells under pin fresh grassy citrus notes and botanical sweetness, like a pine forest after the rain. On botanicals alone, boasting an ostentatious 47, it might be the most complicated gin on the market, but to throw you one more curveball, it’s also built on a base spirit of molasses. Tasting NotesThe story of Monkey 47 begins in the 1940s. In July 1945, to be precise! Wing Commander Montgomery “Monty” Collins of the Royal Air Force was posted to the British sector of divided Berlin. Having arrived in Berlin after the end of the war and taken up his post in the administration of the British sector, Commander Collins was profoundly affected by the extent of the destruction of the capital and so resolved to support the reconstruction of Germany in his free time. Henceforth he became devoted to the rebuilding of the Berlin Zoo, through which he came to sponsor an egret monkey by the name of Max. Talking to Gin Foundry for the 2016 Gin Annual, Monkey 47 Founder Alex Stein explained this moment of enlightenment: “I can remember the moment quite distinctly: I was sitting at my desk on a rainy day in Detroit when an old friend from Germany called me up and told me a story that would change my life in a fundamental way. This was, namely, the life story of the young officer and bon-vivant Montgomery Collins, the great-grandfather of our little Monkey. I think the folks who put together Monkey 47 were trying too hard. Like they set out to break the record for the most botanicals in a gin, even if most of those botanicals added nothing positive to the experience. Our bins hold 18-24 bottles of wine or Champagne or 2-3 cases of lager when filled with ice and water. Drinks will be chilled in 30-45 minutes and will be kept cold for several hours, especially if kept in the shade.

Monkey 47 | Pernod Ricard Monkey 47 | Pernod Ricard

The zingy citrus is assertive to taste upfront, but gives way to a rich bouquet of flavours including herbal juniper, juicy lingonberries, sweet liquorice, cardamom and hibiscus-like floral touches. Can you taste all 47 botanicals? No. Are they all doing something in there? Definitely! It’s a hugely complex, rich (and as an aside very smooth) gin and very difficult to pigeonhole into a brief tasting note. Each year, the distillery also releases a limited edition Distiller’s Cut bottling. The idea behind the D istillers Cut is to harness the inherent Monkey 47 flavour profile and accentuate a certain aspect of it by adding a signature (more dominant) new botanical to the line up, which they refer to as their “species rara”. In 2015, the duo used Spignel to create one of our favourite releases of the year, having been introduced to it at a wedding of their friend, a certain Mr Hardy Happle. Monkey 47 is one of my favorite gins, I have been drinking it with grapefruit juice, a little rosemary simple syrup and Crude Bitters Rizzo blend. Since it’s hard to find I typically only have it as a treat but it is superb So I guess what I’m saying is that this is too sophisticated a gin for my primitive palate. 😉 But I like it nevertheless as it represents a rarified standard (and with a rarified price) that most gins don’t approach. The task when recreating a gin is trying to find information about the original product. With only rudimental records and no original recipe, just descriptions of eyewitnesses and a few key facts such as the use of spruce fruits, classical gin ingredients and lingonberries, the pair decided to recreate the gin as best they could.I didn’t have any problem finishing the bottle, but neither will I go out and buy another (especially at the price point). Hi, Aaron. I’m glad that you mentioned the price. I’ve looked at this gin, read about this gin ( and your coverage was a necessary addition, and quite entertaining ), but have never been persuaded to pay a price which, frankly, makes my eyes cross. I suspect that at some point I will be convinced to reward myself, maybe on some very special occasion or life threshold. Maybe the additional information on the sheer complexity and abundance of the botanicals, and the generosity of its creator toward a kindred primate will persuade me that this is a worthy indulgence. The Negroni was nice as well, with herbal, spice notes at first, setting the stage for an unctuous, fruity finish. Nice, though not as complex as I might have hoped.

Monkey 47 500Ml - Tesco Groceries Monkey 47 500Ml - Tesco Groceries

The first thing that caught my eye was Scarlet Beebalm. I know it as an ornamental plant from gardens [and it attracts butterflies and hummingbirgs by the way]. The Oswego peoples of upstate New York taught Europeans a couple of uses for the plant. Resin from the plant is a natural soothing agent, often used for bee stings and the like. A tea can also be made from the plants leaves. For those of you curious about what it tastes like, it’s worth nothing that it’s also called bergamont by gardeners because its aroma is similar to that of the orange [and other common gin botanical] of the same name. Roberta F. 27. svibnja 2008. An unusual gin. Complicated, unique. Hard to compare to anything else i have consumed with tonic. Definitely a modern gin as opposed to a traditional juniper-heavy offering. Too expensive for me to justify as a staple gin, hence four vs. five stars, but as a special occasion option, wonderful. Don't wait in! We'll drop you a text the day of your expected delivery by 4pm and let you know a 2 hour delivery window Excellent, balanced piece (Monkey 47 is something of a phenomenon both sides of the Atlantic) – but have you broken all of the crystal-ware again? – resorted to jam jars? 😉In Europe this is one of the hottest gins around at premium bars. Price here is ~€30 per 50cl bottle. I love it dearly and it can be mixed in a wide variety. It has a very strong and distinct taste. A very powerful gin. I also strongly recommend Monkey 47 Sloe Gin. Discover our initiatives and projects. We have a multi-stakeholder approach working together to build a more sustainable and responsible world. Case Studies The nose is mentholated juniper, pineapple sage, lemon verbena, lavender, rose, hibiscus and lime. (!) This encyclopedic list merely reflects how incredibly complex and brightly aromatic this gin is. Your mileage might vary. There’s a lot in here, and I’m not sure any experts are going to agree on the exact list you get here on the nose. It’s nicely blended with a lot of hints of clues; rabbit holes of aroma that can be explored only to come up empty with a vague “floral” or “fruity” admission. Second, we mixed it with an Elderflower Lemonade. This was a pre-bottled, carbonated soda. Rose and Elderflower came on strong at first, with lemon dominating the mids. The gin shone in the lower noes as lavender, rosemary, sweet orange and birch came through. It was a tough task, the lemonade remained the star, but overall, the gin offered enough to decide this mixed drink was not without merit. Priced at ~30-35€ a bottle. Not to much for a great gin, comparing to the alternatives. Can’t compare it pricewise with €10-15 gin, it’s worth the price