If it’s true that we get through a lot of Pol Roger champagne in the Spectator office, it’s also true that we’ve been sinking more than a little of our new Spectator Gin.

The handmade, small batch gin is produced especially for us by Brighton Gin, the first (legal) distillery in said city, headed up by the UK’s only pair of female distillers, Kathy Caton and Helen Chesshire.

We love the fact that the Spectator Gin is smooth enough to sip neat over ice, that it’s spectacularly refreshing when served with top quality tonic water, ice and a slice of orange rather than lemon, the better to reveal its delightful citrus peel notes, and that it’s also an excellent component in all manner of cocktails, particularly a Negroni, a Gimlet and a French 75.

And it’s heartening to learn that we are not alone in applauding our gin’s quality, for Brighton Gin has just won a gold medal at the 2016 Spirits Business Gin Masters and Helen Chesshire has just been named Rising Star of the Year at the 2016 International Spirits Challenge. We’ll drink to that.

Produced using organic British grain, the Spectator gin’s botanicals include juniper, the peel of fresh oranges and limes, locally-grown coriander seed and milk thistle, indigenous to the South Downs and well-known for its liver-cleansing properties. Each bottle is filled, wax-sealed and labelled by hand, the colour of wax being an appropriate and jaunty Spectator scarlet.

If you’d like to try some of our spiffing new gin yourself, you can order it here.

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