Added foraged botanicals to the still to make Lantic Gin
Terroir is often a term used in reference to wine. When a certain grape is grown close to the sea or in mineral-rich soils for example, imbibers are able to taste a hint of salinity or flint in the resulting wine.
In the same way terroir can also be used to describe certain gins. Distillers can source native, wild-grown botanicals to capture the essence of a certain part of the world in their spirits.
Although this has previously been more popular in the UK, now US producers are catching on. using niche ingredients from coast to coast, north to south, to craft gins that are completely distinct to their environment.
In Rhode Island, Rhodium Forager’s Gin uses red clover, sumac, autumn berries and aronia. In California, St George Spirits Terroir Gin relies on Douglas fir, coastal sage, wild fennel and California bay laurel. More broadly reflective of the US is the just-launched Four Corners Gin, made by sourcing indigenous ingredients from across the country. Think wild juniper from Oregon, yerba santa from the Mojave desert, cranberry from Maine and wild cherry bark from Florida.
Four Corners American Gin
Going local
‘These locally picked botanicals give terroir gins a unique and distinctive flavour profile, setting them apart from mass produced, traditional gins,’ says Donal O’Gallachoir, co-founder of Four Corners Gin.
O’Gallachoir adds that until recently,
