Portobello Road Gin launches in Australia

Portobello Road London Dry Gin is the creative collaboration of a group of esteemed British bartenders including Jake Burger and Ged Feltham of Jake’s Bar, Oporto, The Angel’s Share – all in Leeds – and the Portobello Star in London.

The noted gin brand has been picked up by Vanguard Luxury Brands, which imports premium liquor brands to Australia. Vanguard was the winner of the On-Premise Supplier of the Year award at the 2013 Australian Liquor Industry Awards.

James France, Managing Director of Vanguard Luxury Brands, is excited to bring the famed gin to Australia. “We’re very excited to introduce Portobello Road to the Australian market. It’s been a long time coming, with a very large number of Australia’s best bar teams and retailers asking about it. The growth in premium and super-premium gins continues unabated and we are proud to offer this great brand to consumers all over Australia.”

Portobello Road London Dry Gin was created in 2011 above the Portobello Star, where Jake Burger created London’s second smallest museum, The Ginstitute and the Still Room. Here, visitors can find a history of gin and are invited to create their own gin recipe.

It was in the Still Room that some of the UK’s best bartenders and gin devotees worked on their collaborative recipe for their perfect gin. It took nine months of research and experimentation to create the now award-winning gin (it has won Gold Medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2014 and at the International Spirits Challenge London 2013).

The philosophy behind the recipe was to keep the blend simple and restrict the number of botanicals so that they could all shine through. Besides the classic juniper, the other botanicals used are coriander seed, angelica root, orris root, lemon peel, liquorice root, cassia bark and nutmeg. The blend is distilled in the famed Thames Distillery by gin master Charles Maxwell.

The flavour of Portobello Road is a strong hit of juniper and citrus, followed by a nutmeg and peppery finish. It is best served with a good tonic water and a slice of grapefruit to accentuate the citrus notes.

Portobello Road London Dry Gin has an RRP of around $89.

This story was originally published on The Shout by Vanessa Cavasinni, editor of Australian Hotelier.