It used to be so simple; 50 cl of Gordons, ice, and Schweppes tonic water.

Now the world over is embracing the rising popularity of regionally created and distilled botanical gin and it’s no longer a matter of just reaching for the Gordons!

The team at The Chalet, enjoyed a tour round the Salcombe Gin Distillery and saw the gin being made first hand from a range of thirteen botanicals including Macedonian juniper, fresh lemon, lime and red grapefruit peels, cardamom, liquorice, cinnamon bark, chamomile, coriander seeds and cubeb.

This year The Chalet at 11º East Obergurgl includes the following Gins for our guests to enjoy:

Salcombe Gin – serve with tonic and a slice of grapefruit
Hendricks Gin – serve with a long sliver of cucumber, distilled in Scotland.
What gives Hendricks its very different distinctive flavour is the infusion of rose petals and cucumber that are added to the traditional list of botanicals including juniper berries etc.

Bombay Gin – serve with a slice of lemon or lime
Bombay Sapphire’s recipe is based on 10 botanicals which include juniper berries, citrus, angelica and orris root. To these are added coriander, liquorice, cassia bark, almonds, cubeb berries and West African grains of paradise.

Silent Pool Gin – distilled in Albury Surrey, a tiny village near Guildford, this gin has no less than 24 botanicals!
Coupled with the beautifully pure spring water from the Silent Pool – a tranquil beauty spot between Shere, famous for the film “ The Holiday “ starring Kate Winslet, and Albury and again we find a highly distinctive flavoured gin.
For an interesting twist on a traditionally made gin and tonic, spray the inside of a large wine goblet with Silent Pool “mist” made with Bergamot.

Gin Mare – a Spanish gin from the Costa Dorada, best served with a sprig of rosemary.
Gin Mare is distinctively different to the English gins that the team at The Chalet tasted and has an evocative Mediterranean aroma to it. Gin Mare is infused with basil from Italy, thyme from Greece, rosemary from Turkey and citrus fruits from Spain. The key ingredient that makes it so different, however, is Arbequibna olives. None of the other gins that we tried had Olives or Rosemary in their ingredients.

No better way to enjoy the Alps than with a short slurp overlooking the slopes!