Doghouse Distillery Renegade Gin (70cl), Award-Winning Battersea London Gin 42% ABV, a contemporary, refreshingly herby Botanical Gin

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That grainy base is there, albeit in a very clean, almost tropical form. There’s a huge, green leafiness to the gin overall, with hints of sage and something ever so slightly mentholic tugging at the nostrils. Creating a unique and sessionable style that appeals to both Gin connoisseurs and people new to Gin. It’s something that is inclusive, like booze should be! And of course being one of a very small group of distilleries in the UK making Gin from scratch. What was the most memorable high point over the past few months? Yes, we were over the moon with winning it as we never win anything! Expect to see a new and exciting Renegade bottle after the Summer. What else is on the horizon for the year ahead in 2019? What followed was a struggle in which Gabriel lobbied to make his gin, arguing that there was historical precedent for this act. Extensive research uncovered that historically gin was produced in pot stills over a naked flame, which is exactly how Cognac pot stills were designed. “I don’t know about you but when I am pissed at something I work even harder! France is a very bureaucratic country. I was told there’s no rule that allows me to do this, but I was much younger and rebellious in nature and I said there’s no rule that says I cannot”, he said. Eventually, “after five long years, I finally received the AOC approval to distil gin in Cognac in 1995!” With tonic, the waxed leaf flush is even brighter, with the dilution of the spirit hushing the spice and allowing the foliage to roam free. It’s incredibly green and delightfully refreshing, a G&T for a hot summer day, for sure.

Gabriel’s desire to explore and test the limits of gin led to the creation of the limited edition Extreme Collection. The first was Citadelle No Mistake Old Tom Gin , made with caramelised Caribbean brown sugar that was aged in the barrel with its cask-aged Citadelle Réserve. Wild Blossom followed, a gin inspired by his mother’s love of herbal infusions that was distilled wild cherry blossom petals and aged in cherrywood casks for five months. “They keep me sane. Take ‘Saisons of the Witch’, which I made by roasting my juniper berries and distilled it with the other botanicals to create a slightly smoky, roasted pepper gin. We sell it only on the estate and we made a few hundred bottles, but I love it,” Gabriel says. “Right now I can tease that we’ve got a new aged gin expression on the way and, also some breaking news, we have a gin maturing in 100-litre vats made from juniper berry tree. All this crazy stuff that I’m having fun with is all part of that new frontier of gin! Then 2021 will be the 25th anniversary of the launching of Citadelle, so the 25th anniversary will come with some surprises as well”. It is the only “grain to glass” gin produced in London and one of a handful in the whole of the UK. They are not fans of following the traditional route in distilling (or life), and Renegade is contemporary on all levels. Overall: A complex, intriguing and well-integrated gin that does a particularly good job of balancing floral and spicy notes. Also within the range is their Baller Vodka which recently won “Best Spirit” in Great Britain in the 2019 Great British Food Awards. This tipple is London’s only vodka made fully from scratch using 100% English wheat. Full of attitude, this baller is totally unfiltered and loaded with character. The Brands of Doghouse; Renegade Gin and Baller Vodka are true artisanal spirits that showcase very distinctive characters in texture and taste. Aptly named for the attitude and spunk that is evident in their profiles, both are best case scenarios of how a complete disregard for convention leads on to deliver incomparable brilliance.

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G&T without doubt - and a simple one with no fluff, where you can really taste the Renegade. Light on the garnish, we like a small sprig of rosemary or sage. We are pretty simple drinkers in the Doghouse. Renegade was made to be a perfect G&T. It does make an epic Negroni and Southside, though. Gin’s a competitive but inclusive community, so too is distilling. How have you found the craft distilling scene and who’s another distiller you admire? Doghouse Distillery is an independent, grain distillery based in Battersea, London, and was established in 2016 by Braden and Katherine Saunders. Doghouse is London's only full turnkey vodka distillery. It comprises a 2,000L brewery, 1,500L copper pot still and 21 metre copper vodka fractionating column. The company and its culture are heavily inspired by music, particularly live music, and the brands reflect this love giving them an unconventional and identifiable edge that sets them apart from the rest.

Made with 14 botanicals including a good amount of juniper and lots of leafy green herbs, Renegade has an incredible aroma, herbaceous and piney on the palate and has a smooth and lingering finish. The Doghouse team are not fans of following the traditional route in distilling (or life), and Renegade Gin is contemporary on all levels. 'Renegade (n) - a person who behaves in a rebelliously unconventional manner'. Once you have done your budget and timeline, triple it! Do you feel like people are starting to really understand the grain to glass ethos you guys have? Production begins in the field. Saunders buys in wheat from an English maltster, which he mills, mashes and brews into a high sugar wort. Then he adds yeast and ferments into around a 10% wheat beer. This is then pot distilled up to a 30% low wine before being put through Doghouse Distillery’s rectification column where it transfers into a high purity vodka.We cast our MoM-branded spotlight on Citadelle Gin , an expression created at a Cognac house, that predates the craft gin boom. Its founder Alexandre Gabriel explains why he created a gin in the first place, the 18th-century recipe he based it on and his patented brand of gin distillation. So to England from Australia via America Saunders journeyed, heading to London not just because it is the land of gin, but because he’s felt the magnetic pull of the city ever since he pulled a five-year stint in the early Noughties. Plus, he adds, “it’s the best city in the world, right?” When we first saw the designs for our new cans, we were horrified,” Square Root co-founder Robyn Simms said. “Our marketing team got a right telling off! But then we came to realise this terrible design faux pas presented an inadvertent solution to the problem of the natural sediment in our drinks.

As we’ve mentioned in other articles featuring grain to glass made gins and berated them for it, we’ll just say it here for the record - this is made to EU 96% ABV standard, not the “almost there” 94/95% ABV you see in some small operations, and the Doghouse Distillery stills have monster sized columns to be able to handle the workload. Probably the beach holiday we had after the insanely busy Christmas period It’s not all fun and games, is it? It’s a mental time for Gin and super competitive in the UK. In your opinion, what makes Renegade Gin stand out in today’s crowded market?

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Explaining his venture into gin production, Saunders said: “I ran a pub with my wife in Australia that specialised in micro-brewed craft beer. I learnt to brew when we made colab beers with local breweries and really enjoyed the manufacturing process. It wasn’t enough to just have good beer, though, so I started working on building an amazing selection of great boutique wines and also spirits.

This badass gin is insanely sessionable, deliciously herbaceous and piney, with a smooth, lingering finish. This process starts by milling and mashing 100% English wheat then fermenting the wash for three days to make a 10% wheat beer. This wheat beer is then distilled once to create a “low wine” which is run through the rectification column, the heads and tails are discarded and what is left are the hearts – 96% silky smooth amazing vodka (which is what many gin distilleries buy in from a bulk supplier)!The barrels have added a distinctive and unique flavour to the gin, whisky, rum and vodka respectively. At 32 litres and standing at 73cm tall, the ‘Jawbox Giant’s Edition’ bottle is an oversized version of the brand’s Export Strength gin with an ABV of 47%. The new cans are both innovative and fun, solving the problem and reflecting the quirky personality of our brand. Just don’t tell our marketing team I said that!”