May 11, 2021

Wine Barrel Aged Gin

Slowly but steadily, aged gins are becoming quite a thing in the wonderful world of gin. Barrels are nothing new in the spirits industry; you can't really imagine a whisky without a resting period and a barrel finishing. In the old days, even gin has been stored in wooden barrels and wood has been a part of its taste more often than not.

However, modern day's craft distiller is a curious creature and it was only a matter of time when one will start experimenting and bring gin resting revival to the scene. We at Luftbremzer Distillery are surely among that snoopy lot and barrel resting was on our top priority list in terms of product development.

How it's made

We even made things a bit more different and complex. In searching for a way to implement more of Croatian terroir into the product, we reached out for wine flavours because what communicates better a particular region through taste than wine? We’re not the first with that idea, there’s a plenty of wine barrel finished gins out there and some of them are really amazing, but only a few of them rested in red wine barrels, and none of them rested in Croatian wine barrel. So, there’s a niche, we thought.

Since Luftbremzer Gin’s taste is a bold one, it will surely take a wine at least equally accentuated to not be overtaken by it. One of Croatia’s regions most famous for its wine is Istria, a small peninsula in the Northern Adriatic. We decided to join forces with its magnificent winery Meneghetti and work with their Merlot-Cabernet cuvee named Meneghetti red. It’s their flagship red wine brand, very robust and thick, with pronounced spiciness of vanilla, cinnamon, raspberry and fine tannins. A perfect match for our gin.

To blend the two even further, we adjusted the palate of the gin with more forward floral notes. The Luftbremzer botanical mix hasn’t changed, only slight fine-tuning in the botanicals ratio took place. The gin took slumber in a Meneghetti Red barrel for six months and the result was astonishingly satisfying.

The taste

Luftbremzer Wine Barrel Aged Gin is of a bronze red colour and clear. It is both fruity and piney on the nose, all in the same time, with fine oak in the background. On the palate a standard Luftbremzer juniper kick comes first. Although undergone serious wine modifications, the spirit still retains its gin character. We are gin producers after all.

The juniper is followed by bright fruity notes from wine, with slight herbal notes from gin. A fine mixture of wood, vanilla tannins and rooty notes prevails in the aftertaste. The spirit is a complex and well balanced combination of gin, wine and barrel. All made in Croatia, courageously and meticulously blended.

A few tasty cocktails

We recommend the gin enjoyed over a cube of ice, but it also works wonderfully in cocktail classics such as Old fashioned or Negroni. Mr. Ivan Mandarić, a well known bartender and an esteemed industry professional even made a few of his signature mixes with our WBA gin and you are welcome to try them.