Gin Tasting At Lunya

Confidentials 31 March 2016

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UK GIN sales topped £1bn for the first time in last year and our enthusiasm for the juniper-flavoured spirit shows no sign of waning. The recent Manchester Gin Festival at Victoria Baths sold out weeks in advance and there are more gin tastings around the city than you can shake a swizzle stick at.

Co-owners Peter and Elaine Kinsella help spread the botanicals gospel by hosting regular tastings both here and at the original Lunya in Liverpool

Some places, of course, do it better than others. Take Lunya in the Barton Arcade. Not content with being a restaurant/deli showcase for all that’s best in Catalan cuisine, it also houses a bar that boasts the largest range of Spanish gins outside Spain – plus quite a few more craft examples from our own shores.

Co-owners Peter and Elaine Kinsella help spread the botanicals gospel by hosting regular tastings both here and at the original Lunya in Liverpool. The audience at the latest Manchester one confirmed the other key data – the big boom in gin-drinking is among the under-40s, who turned up in force to hear John Dowd of the Liverpool Gin Company introduce four of his own variations as well as three distinctive Spanish examples.
His own award-winning gins are cosmopolitan enough; he scours the globe – Guatemala, Vietnam and beyond – for his purely organic botanicals. The constant ingredients are juniper, coriander, angelica, liquorice, cassia bark, lemon and orange, distilled with a wheat spirit from Italy. The subtlety of the Liverpool Gin (£49.65, Lunya shop retail price) really shone on the night, with a perfect companion, Fevertree Tonic (insider tip: Dowd is also a fan of Schweppes’ but only the Schweppes Original in Spain, which is spared the artificial additives you get over here).

Lunya's Gin Tasting Line-up

The Liverpool Valencian Orange Gin (£49.65), in contrast was too sweet for our taste, but the Liverpool Rose Gin (£49.65) was beguiling, attar of petals on the nose with a clear definition on the palate, finishing as long and complex as the original.

An experimental Liverpool oak-aged gin, not for sale, did nothing for me. The discouraging vanilla flavour came from oak chips; the plan is to age it in future in used Rioja casks. Maybe a good Boulevardier-style base for a Negroni?
The tasting, with 20 ardent gin enthusiasts lapping it up in an upstairs dining room, now strayed into exotic territory. Murcia-based Sikkim distils a trio of gin using red tea from the Tibetan region of Sikkim. Flamboyant in its pink bottle, ultra-fruity Sikkim Fraise (£43.95) adds floral essences, strawberries of the forest, red cranberries, coriander, iris, bitter orange skin. and, of course, juniper to the mix. On the night it was overdosed with fruit garnishes, which redeemed what was an over-floral, slightly soapy experience. Pass.

In complete contrast, a personal favourite, Nordes Gin (£44.05), is crafted at one of the oldest distilleries in the Basque country and in Europe but its botanical heart is in Galicia. Distilled from Albarino grape pomice, its 14 botanicals include juniper, ginger, hibiscus and liquorice. It is such a bold, floral delight, it was a shame to add tonic.
Lavender and thyme scented Gin Sea (£38.65) came in the form of palate-cleansing sorbet, with ginger and perhaps chamomile evident on the sweetish palate. A cute end to a fascinating tasting.

Lunya, Barton Arcade, Deansgate, Manchester, M3 2BB – Tel: 0161 413 3317.

18–20 College Lane, Liverpool One, Liverpool, L1 3DS – Tel: 0151 706 9770

The next gin evening in Manchester is July 6 and then in Liverpool on July 7. Expect tickets to be £29.95, to include, as here, a selection of tapitas, including Padron peppers, Iberico ham, bread with tomatoes and garlic and tortilla, plus a 10 per cent discount on any gin purchased on the night). Book early.