Hendrick’s looks to the sea for inspiration for its brand new gin
Hendrick’s flagship gin arrived in the vanguard of the gin revival. Packed with floral notes from rose petals, and freshness, from cucumbers, its inventive blend and distinctive bottling has been emblematic of gin’s return to prominence over the last two decades.
In recent years the brand has continued to innovate, with regular releases of limited-edition gins that have built on a tradition of quality and quirkiness. In 2017, Hendrick’s opened its “Cabinet of Curiosities” with the mystical Orbium, a quininated gin flavoured with blue lotus and wormwood.
They went on to release Midsummer Solstice, celebrating the flowers of summer in 2019, followed by the tropical fruit-packed Amazonia in 2020. Last year’s Lunar Gin used botanicals harvested at night, to explore the subtle differences of nocturnal flavours and aromas, and now they have launched Neptunia, which draws its inspiration from the rugged beauty of the Scottish coast and the sea that laps at its shores.
The creative force behind all of Hendrick’s products is master distiller Lesley Gracie. She has a fondness for salmon fishing and walking her dog, Jock, along the beaches near the distillery’s Ayrshire home. She also explores further afield in her motorhome, which she has christened Ted. She knows the coast and wanted to capture its liminality in a gin, utilising ingredients from land and sea.
“I find listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore really therapeutic,” says Gracie. “Looking out onto the horizon and feeling the wind in your hair and the salty sea breeze on your face is just a great feeling – it’s so freeing, invigorating and calming all at the same time. I walk down the beach in Girvan every weekend with my dog and take in the sound of the waves, and that particular smell you find no matter what beach you are on.”
“Most of my creations are based on memories – I play around with botanicals and combine them to recreate certain sensations. Hendrick’s Neptunia, for me, is that freeing feeling of the sea bottled in a gin. You have that distinctive fresh character from coastal herbs, depth of flavour from the sea botanicals and an unmistakably clean, bright citrus finish that lifts and lightens in a round, refreshing way that makes it Hendrick’s.”
As ever, Hendrick’s is coy about precisely which botanicals are included in Neptunia, although when I asked, Gracie confirmed that it contains seaweed. Speculation among enthusiasts (which may or may not be accurate) suggests that among its ingredients are the obligatory juniper, rose, and cucumber, but also unique additions for this special release such as kelp, coastal thyme, and lime – the last of these presumably included to fight off scurvy.
The result is bracing, the familiar flavour of Hendrick’s but with hidden depths. You might expect to catch a whiff of ozone or iodine, or maybe even a hint of fishiness, but Gracie’s approach is less literal. She visualises flavours as shapes, and tries to fit them together to produce a satisfyingly balanced whole, so Neptunia is not a briny bisque, it is more impressionistic; the gin-equivalent of Felix Mendelssohn’s Fingal’s Cave.
Hendrick’s has taken the opportunity provided by the launch of Neptunia to partner with Project Seagrass, an environmental charity working to conserve seagrass ecosystems. It seeks to raise awareness and funds in support of seagrass meadows and marine biodiversity more broadly. It seems appropriate for a brand so well known for its relationship with botanicals to attempt to draw public attention to this vital underwater environment.
Seagrass meadows are one of the most productive ecosystems in the world, but most people are unaware of their existence. They are crucial to aquatic life, providing food and shelter to an abundance of marine animals, and – if that weren’t enough – they are also a natural carbon sink, helping mitigate the effects of climate change. Hendrick’s Neptunia is donating to Project Seagrass, so that the charity can scale-up their operations to protect and remediate seagrass meadows globally, as well as funding special projects, including a targeted study on the west coast of Scotland, opening the way for restorative work in the region.
• Hendrick’s Neptunia is 43.4% ABV, and 700ml bottles are available with a RRP of £30. It will only be available for a limited time. Order from clinkspirit.com