The idea and subsequent recipe for Old Pilot’s London Dry Gin was thought up while Hrvoje was piloting a long flight home and is thus very much a gin created in the heavens! The base spirit is distilled with selected Croatian botanicals such as juniper and sage from Mount Velebit, lavender from Hvar island, bitter orange peel from Korcula, angelica root, and olive leaves from Mount Biokovo. It’s without cold filtration. On the nose there are aromas of fresh juniper berries, complemented by earthy notes and Mediterranean sage. On the palate there are earthy notes combined with sage and citrus. This gin has a long dry, earthy finish with hints of sage and olive leaves.

Ratios are slightly changed but still draw on the six key, handpicked Croatian botanicals. After distillation the gin in rested in five different barrels, split between American and Croatian oak. They differ by volume and toasting/charring levels, each giving their own signature and complexity to the final spirit. As you’d expect, the American oak lends sweet, smoky vanilla whilst the Croatian oak adds bitterness and dry fruit tones. Old Pilot’s Barrel Aged Gin is perfect in cocktails but extraordinary on its own as well, served neat in a rosemary-smoked glass.