One Gin Sage Premium London Dry Gin is another one of those gins that I picked up on a recent trip to the headquarters of Drinkfinder UK in Constantine, down in Cornwall, although it is not Cornish in origin. Rather it is produced near the smoke in Richmond-upon-Thames. As is the modern way, it has an ethical and sustainable twist to its back story, one that, intriguingly, has its roots in water.

Hurricane Mitch was the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, sweeping through Central America in 1998 and causing around 11,000 fatalities, seven thousand of whom were killed in Honduras. In Honduras at the time was Duncan Goose and his exposure to the aftermath of the devastation wrought by the hurricane brought home to him the importance of having access to safe drinking water. On his return to Blighty he gave up his job and launched the ethical bottled water brand, One Water, whose profits fund the provision of drinking water in developing communities.

Out of Goose’s endeavours rose the One Foundation, a registered UK charity, and on World Water Day in 2017, March 22^nd, One Gin was launched. In line with the One mission, at least ten per cent of its profits go towards funding clean water projects, another example of indulging in your favourite tipple and making a difference elsewhere.

The bottle is cylindrical, slightly taller at the top at the bottom, with a broad shoulder and a medium sized neck which leads to a wooden stopper with a cork. The label design is busy, using greens, beige, and copper as its principal colours. Its main logo is a butterfly which appears three times, on the label, on the neck, and on the stopper. It references the well-known trope of chaos theory that the tiny flutter of a butterfly’s wings can trigger a cyclone on the other side of the world and is symbolic of the aspiration that a single small act can make a difference.

Laudable as that sentiment is, the bottle’s design is a little muted for my taste and would find it difficult to make its presence known on a crowded shelf. It was no surprise when I learned that they had completely redesigned the bottle into a more elegant shape and used a distinctly art deco approach to their labelling. Clearly bottle 356 from batch number 15 is old stock.  

The idea was to use a flavour profile that used tastes and smells that were natural to England. As the name of the hooch suggests, the showcase botanical is sage which at first blush seems a bold choice given its strong flavour, earthy, slightly peppery with hints of mint, lemon, and eucalyptus, but these are all flavour elements that work well with juniper in a gin. Annoyingly, I have not been able to find a definitive list of all the botanicals that go into the mix and so have had to rely on my slightly battered senses of smell and taste.

On the nose there is no doubt that the main flavours are sage and juniper, both powerful aromas that jostle for pole position, although there also hints of nuts and what smells distinctly like marmalade on the margins. In the glass the spirit is clear, and in the mouth, it is a gloriously complex mix of juniper, sweet and dry citrus, and with spicy elements that become more apparent in its warm, smooth, savoury finish. It worked well with a premium tonic, do not go for an overly lemony one as there is enough in the spirit to be going along with. The sage worked well with the juniper and was an imaginative choice of botanical that sets the spirit apart from its many rivals.

Now they have sorted the presentation out, I expect One Gin to go places.

Until the next time, cheers!