Although I am more a fan of traditional London Dry, juniper forward gins than of contemporary style gins, the team at Silent Pool Distillers from Albury near Guildford do make a tasty spirit. I had tried and reviewed their signature gin many moons ago and I was intrigued to see what their Rare Citrus Gin, which Santa had very kindly given me, was like.

One of the striking things about Silent Pool is the beauty of their bottle design and this is no exception. Instead of the blue of their Silent Pool Gin, the bottle is orange with the same design of botanicals on its circular main body. The shoulder is rounded, leading to a medium sized neck and a glass stopper, which is remarkably robust as I dropped it. Labelling is minimal, just “Silent Pool” on an orange band on the neck and some basic information, including that it is “distilled from grain” in white at the bottom of the bottle. What it lacks in information, this 50cl bottle containing a spirit with an ABV of 43% more than makes up for in style.

The pressure to find space in the crowded marketplace spawned by the ginaissance, has encouraged enthusiastic distillers to search for wonderful and exotic flavours with which to tickle our palates and find an edge. Unsurprisingly, the inspiration behind the Rare Citrus Gin came from a love of all things citrus but, more particularly, to introduce some new taste sensations that perhaps their topers have not experienced before. The Silent Pool’s citrus suppliers, based in Portugal, have around 360 varieties of citrus and the team sampled dozens to find the perfect combination that would provide a complex gin.

They settled on four. The first was Buddha’s hand or, to give it its botanical name, Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis, a curiously shaped citron whose zesty fruit is segmented into finger-like sections, rather like those seen on statues of Buddha, hence its name. The second is Natsu dai dai, which is thought to be a hybrid between sour orange or pummelo and mandarin. Growing to the size of a grapefruit when ripe with a yellowish orange rind, its flavour is refreshingly bitter and sweet, rather reminiscent of Seville orange marmalade. The third is Hirado Buntan, a cultivar which originated on Hirado Island in Japan in 1910. It is a large fruit, bright yellow when ripe with a flavour that is a pleasant mix of sugar and acid with hints of bitterness. The quartet is made up by Green Seville Oranges.

With all that gorgeous citrus, I feared that it would overwhelm the spirit but, surprisingly and all credit to the distiller’s craft, it is still a remarkably juniper-forward tipple, its earthiness and piney notes counterbalancing and bringing under control the sweet and bitter tones from the citrus that, initially, threatens to take charge. It is a complex and wonderful gin that showcases some of the more exotic citrons but in a way that will satisfy even the most critical traditionalist.

I could not resist a second glass.

Until the next time, cheers!