News

Nonesuch Sloe Gin makes it to Northern Ireland

Selling the majority of our products either in person at the distillery or on-line has a tremendous benefit for us.  We get to meet our customers either face to face or on-line.

Quite often a note attached to an order tells us that the product being purchased is a gift or there is a comment about their enjoyment of their previous purchase.

We had one of those online and email conversations with Jackie from Berowra Heights in NSW.  Jackie informed us that she was ordering a bottle of our Tasmanian Sloe Gin to take with her to Ireland as a gift for her parents. 

More than twenty years ago Jackie’s family had lived in Cambridge and used to make sloe gin using the berries they picked from the hedgerows there.  Jackie naturally wanted them to be able to enjoy a Sloe Gin from the other side of the world. 

The sloes that we use are picked from Blackthorn trees bought from Ireland and England by early settlers so we couldn’t help wondering if some of our local trees are the descendants of the trees known to Jackie’s family.

It was fantastic to get an email today from Jackie letting us know that she and the prized bottle of Sloe Gin had made it to Ireland.  Attached were photos of her parents with their gift and some shots of Blackthorn growing along the shore of Carlingford Lough, with the Mourne Mountains in the background.

(Just a little bit of trivia - Besides being the source of sloes, the Blackthorn provided the material that the Irish used to make their renowned shillelagh.)

            

   

A Nonesuch Original - Sloe Malt

To say there is an air of excitement at the distillery at the moment would be an understatement of monumental proportion. 

The cause of this excitement is the pending release of a product that is complex, intriguing and exclusive to Nonesuch.

The product is Sloe Malt. 

You will not find Sloe Malt anywhere else.  It is has been developed by our distillery and, while others may seek to imitate, there is only one genuine Sloe Malt.

The making of Sloe Malt begins in the Tasmanian autumn when the frosts begin.  At that time we start picking the astringent fruit of the Tree Of Secrets, the Blackthorn. These trees were introduced to Tasmania by early settlers.  The tiny blueish/black fruit needs to be carefully handpicked from the thorny trees.

Picking the sloes is an arduous task as they are protected by long nail-hard thorns all along the branches.  

Once sorted and rinsed, the fruits are then added to an exceptional Tasmanian unaged malt spirit. This is the same spirit that would in other circumstances be barrel aged and become a malt whisky.  

We do not age the malt spirit because we want to preserve the specific malt flavour.  Whisky producers want to achieve colour and flavour from the barrel they age their spirit in and they choose barrels that have previously held wine, sherry port or bourbon.  
We do not want those flavours or even the oak notes of the barrel.  To us it is all about the unadulterated flavour and aroma of the malt spirit and the fruit.  

Batch #1 of our Sloe Malt is the result of a process that commenced in Nov 2014 and consists of only 280 bottles.

The colour is a rich, ruby red.  The nose is slightly fruity with subtle notes reminiscent of cherry and raspberry along with plenty of malt.   So much is happening on the palate. The fruit, while full and flavoursome carries a slight astringency that simply "works" with the malt and lingers on the palate.

Something unique, using Tasmanian malt spirit and a fruit that only grows in any quantity in Tasmania and no other State, produced in very small batches of premium quality.  Is it any wonder we are excited?

 

(Sloe Malt is a Registered Trade Mark of Stillworks Tas Pty Ltd) 

Sloe Gin, What's That?

When I tell people  that our distillery produces SLOE GIN the next question is most often; What's that?" In short Sloe Gin can be summed up as  - a triumph of ingenuity, and a forgotten cocktail classic that deserves to be rediscovered. But first things first - Just what is a Sloe"? The sloe is the tiny blue-purple fruit of the Blackthorn Tree (ok, the serious scientific bit - Prunus spinosa) and is closely related to the damson and cherry.

A Sloe is very astringent and with only a couple of mm of flesh around the seed. When SLOE Gin was first made is still a mystery but it appears to have become popular following the passing of the Inclosure Acts in the U.K. in the 16th and 17th centuries. These Acts saw huge areas of what had previously been considered common land “enclosed” thereby creating legal property rights to wealthy landowners. This “enclosing” was largely achieved using blackthorn as a hedge plant due to its vigorous growth and long, sharp thorns.  Those vicious thorns were good (and still are) at keeping stock in and people out! More Blackthorn meant more sloes, and those enterprising country folk who wasted little but who knew the sloe was too bitter to eat, determined the only solution was to soak it in alcohol and sugar.  As the drink of the time was gin the Sloe Gin came into being.  Thankfully the early colonists in Tasmania also wanted to enclose their farms and had Blackthorn sent out which they duly planted into hedgerows like the ones back in the Mother Country. These old trees now provide the Nonesuch Distillery with the unique ingredient to make our Tasmanian Sloe Gin.  As far as we know Blackthorn does not grow in any quantity anywhere else in Australia. Because the Blackthorn is not generally cultivated the supply of sloes is always limited. The sloes are at their best after they have been subjected to a frost.  So while most Tasmanians are not looking forward to those bone-chilling mornings we get pretty excited about the coming days of picking this astringent treasure. The sloes delivered to us are then sorted and any leaves, stalks or loitering insects are removed along with any less than perfect Sloes. The fruit is then rinsed and allowed to dry before being added to our specially created gin. Nonesuch Sloe Gin is made in the way the cottage folk made it centuries ago.  In small batches that allow us to gently agitate the sloes in the gin to ensure a gradual release of juice and colour.

Sloe Gin of quality is not quick to make and Nonesuch Distillery is where time is allowed to work its magic.  We bottle our Sloe Gin according to nature’s dictate and not that of the clock or bean-counters. It will be bottled when it is ready (colour, taste, aroma are all in balance) and not before. 

It is a drink for the lucky few.  Because of the rarity of Sloes only around 3,000 bottles can be produced in any year. A recent review of our Sloe Gin –

Nose + Appearance: It has a bright ruby colour, with an appealing hint of maraschino cherry on the nose that lingers well.

Tasting (slightly chilled served neat): the flavours are very forward on the palette, not overly sweet with a quite clean + dry finish. Not a rich liqueur experience such as you get from a fortified spirit, rather this is one of complex spices, with yes, blackberry and sour cherries notes in a spirit that isn’t heavy.

It’s not like a Kirsch liqueur if that’s what you’re thinking, it’s much more lighter and delicate than that without the alcoholic kick.

The Take Home
A delicious and well crafted debut gin from one of our newest distilleries.

Read the whole review here