SPIRITED London | suerayuncorked

SPIRITED London - 15 March 2018

Nine Adam Street, London WC2N 6AA

SPIRITED is a new London-based spirits fair dedicated to the world of cocktails and recently launched spirits.

The inaugural event was held at Nine Adam Street, the brand new event space located just off the Strand. This venue has beautiful exposed brickwork and is finished to a very high standard. Bursting with character, it has grand arches and a central bar; the perfect place to showcase new craft spirits and some classic cocktails. Alongside the New Products Zone, we had the opportunity to taste top scoring spirits from The Global Spirits Masters, 16 expertly crafted cocktails at the World Bar and a choice of 3 masterclasses covering a range of Whisky, Mezcal and Gin.

Below are some of the new products which caught my attention:

Maverick Drinks

Maverick Drinks need no introduction; they distribute some of the most exciting craft spirits in the world and have won the IWSC Spirits Distributor of the year in 2014, 2016 and 2017.

A new spirit in their portfolio is Brenne French Single Malt Whisky. Brenne was founded by Allison Parc, an American entrepreneur and former ballerina. Allison travelled to the Cognac region of France with the intention of creating a French Single Malt Whisky using locally sourced ingredients. The result is a totally unique, smooth, sweet French Single Malt Whisky with aromas and flavours of ripe bananas and crème brûlée. It is aged in new French Limousin oak barrels and Cognac casks, which infuse intense flavours of fruit, pastry and vanilla really giving this a point of difference to other Single Malts.

Brenne French Single Malt Whisky is available from Master of Malt.

The Wrecking Coast Distillery

Located in Tintagel, North Cornwall, The Wrecking Coast Distillery launched their first spirit, Clotted Cream Gin in June 2016. The aim was to create a “unique, luxurious mouth feel, smooth on the palate, but remaining true to the core flavours of gin”. The Gin blends together 12 botanicals with clotted cream and is indeed incredibly smooth and creamy whilst still retaining the pine-like juniper and citrus aromas and flavours that we expect from a classic London Dry.

The next product to launch will be their Honey Sloe Gin which is being made with local wildflower honey to create a delicate sweetness combined with spicy botanicals.

The Wrecking Coast Distillery’s products are available from Master of Malt, The Whisky Exchange and Selfridges.

Ellustria Beverages Reimagined

Ellustria is run by a group of young, extremely enthusiastic and incredibly passionate individuals who only started trading early in 2017. Their mission is to create a “unique experience of high quality storytelling spirits” and they have a story behind each product. The absolute star of the show for me was the stunning Snow Queen Enigma Edition Vodka. This ultra-premium elegant product takes the purest Snow Queen Organic Wheat Vodka and gently blends it with lavender, rose and vanilla to create an extremely delicate, yet aromatic, spirit with a super smooth finish which is just perfect served neat or over ice.

Ellustria’s products can be found in Waitrose, Hedonism and DrinkSupermarket.com.

Pure Wild Spirits

Freya Birch Spirit was launched in November 2016. It is a unique collection of spirits distilled from the sap of birch trees which are harvested just once a year in the Spring. The name, Freya, comes from the wild, independent Nordic goddess of love, beauty and fertility. The original Freya Birch Spirit is smooth, clean and full bodied with woody aromas and flavours and a hint of vanilla. Freya Woodsmoke infuses birch spirit with smoke from apple, birch and chestnut trees. It is incredibly complex and aromatic; extremely unusual.

Freya Birch Spirits are available from Borough Wines, Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange.

Silver Swift

Silver Swift was launched in December 2017 and created by Rose Unwin, whom I met at the show. Rose told me that she wanted to create a range of low calorie craft cocktails which are light, refreshing and elegant. All products are just 5% alcohol and less than 94 calories in each 250ml bottle. I tasted Fresh Venture Vodka; British Vodka, sparkling water, strawberry and basil, Tipsy Iced Tea Vodka; British Vodka, gooseberry, elderflower and earl grey tea, and Wild Rose Gin; British Gin, raspberry and blackberry. All products are made with British Vodka or Gin, contain 100% natural ingredients and are gluten free. I was incredibly impressed. They are all light and refreshing but not too sweet. My particular favourite was the Tipsy Iced Tea Vodka; the perfect Summer picnic tipple.

The Silver Swift range is available via Amazon.co.uk and DrinkSupermarket.com.

It is always fabulous to have the opportunity to taste new products and talk to the people behind them. Thanks to The Spirits Business for sponsoring this event and I look forward to the next one. In the meantime, if you get a chance, do check out some of the new products I’ve featured. A great line-up in my opinion!