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Here's how Craft Gin Club chooses their Gins of the Month (and yes, there's a LOT of tasting involved..)
Sep 16, 2020
Each and every month, thousands of excited Craft Gin Clubbers rip open their Gin of the Month box to discover what delicious treats await. Among the carefully paired tonics, mixers and yummy snacks (not forgetting the glossy magazine), lies a beautiful, full-size bottle of craft gin.
We love hearing all the fabulous feedback our members give us about our fantastic gins, as we do go to, frankly, a LOT of effort to make sure we’re choosing only the best of the very best rare, craft and artisan gins - often, we even get them made exclusively for the club!
As a result, one question that - perhaps inevitably - we get asked by our members more than any other is this: “How do you choose what gin to put in our monthly boxes?” Given the huge number of gins available these days, it’s a very valid question.
What’s more, we recently launched our very own online shop, showcasing what we believe to be only the very best in craft gins from across the UK and around the world.
So, for the first time ever, we are lifting the lid on this top-secret process!
Yes, here’s a full reveal of just what goes into the Craft Gin Club selection process. It’s a bit like X-factor, only with less botox… No, seriously, we think we might have the most rigorous process anywhere in the world for choosing which gins to send our members.
Let us take you on a “journey”…
Our number one rule is: never offer our members anything but the very best; nothing you wouldn’t drink and don’t love yourself. Our approach at Craft Gin Club has always been to offer a curated experience. There are so many gin brands out there that it’s become much more difficult for people to find quality spirits that they truly love, so it’s up to us to guide them - basically, we do all the hard work for you!
— John Burke, co-founder of Craft Gin Club
Stage 1: The journey begins
Our hardworking team of experts are continuously scouring the globe, making sure they know about any new releases of craft gin or artisan distilleries that we haven’t come across before.
More and more distilleries around the world are turning to creating gin that has local or native twist on the traditional flavour profile.
“We want the ones who have brought something new and exciting to the spirit, whilst keeping the flavour very recognisably gin,” explains Peter Downes, one of our expert gin-sourcing team.
“However, just as important as finding an amazing-tasting liquid are the authentic, unique stories of the people behind the brand. Craft Gin Club’s mission is two-fold: send our members incredible gins, and support the craft gin industry. This second point is hugely important for us!”
John and Jon visiting Nelson’s Distillery & School.
We are lucky enough to boast one of the most enthusiastic - and biggest! - gin-loving communities on the planet, so as well as proactively sourcing new and interesting gins, our team also invite distillers around the globe to send in their gins as part of our tasting ‘competition’ to see if they will be picked for the grand prize of being a Featured Craft Gin Club Gin of the Month.
“Each year, we taste more than 400 entries to be considered for just 12 ‘Gin of the Month’ spots,” reveals Peter. “So you can see that we really do whittle the final gins down to only the very best and most exciting for our members.”
Stage 2: The tastings begin!
Once a gin has made it this far, the real “work” begins: the tasting!
“We are incredibly selective. Only roughly 30% of entries get past the first round of tastings,” explains Pete Downes, one of our Craft Gin Club gin selection panel. "
Taking part in the first round of tastings are between 10 and 20 members of the Craft Gin Club team. Tasters are a combination of experts with specialised qualifications in spirits and more amateur gin enthusiasts, to make sure we have a broad range of opinions.
Gins are blind tasted so nobody has any idea what distillery has produced the gin or knows anything about it!
The gins are initially scored based on appearance, nose (its aroma), taste and finish. Once that round is completed, the gin brand is revealed and the team learns about the story of the distillery behind the gin: what’s their ethos?
A gin must score at least 75/100 to pass this round; for context, the historical average score for all the gins we have ever tasted in the first round is 52. These scoring requirements are much tougher than those used in many international spirit-tasting competitions!
Entry to the Craft Gin Club tasting is completely free for distilleries - they just need to send their sample liquid to us - unlike most professional tasting competitions, where there is an entry fee. We’re much more independent.
Tasting gin at Craft Gin Club HQ.
Stage 3: A race to the podium!
Once a gin has made it through the demanding first round on the tasting panel, it is taken forward to a round table discussion and tasting held by Craft Gin Club’s Distillery Partnerships Team.
These are our brand guardians - their role is to make sure the Club stays true to its purpose: the discovery of only gins that are of the highest quality and that will be loved by the members!
What happens next?
There’s no scoring this time - instead, there’s much more in-depth discussion about the gins, the brands, the people behind them and whether they fit the Club’s ethos
After much discussion and debate, a final decision is made on whether a spirit is potentially eligible to be featured as our Gin of the Month
Our lovely team will then contact any successful gin distilleries to discuss dates, practicalities and any potential issues they can foresee in producing enough gin for the club; working with such small, craft distilleries can mean this is a challenge for them. Which is where our close, supportive working partnerships really come to the fore. The end result? A fabulous Gin of the Month to surprise and delight our members every single month!
The gin tasting team at Craft Gin Club HQ.
What are we looking for in a Gin of the Month?
Our expert panel of gin tasters give us the low-down on exactly what they are looking for (and what they’re trying to avoid!) in the perfect Craft Gin Club Gin of the Month.
- Appearance
Is the liquid free from floating matter? Is it the colour that the distiller intended, according to the style? For example, is a London Dry Gin clear? If tinted or coloured, is the shade appealing?
Appearance
Is the liquid free from floating matter? Is it the colour that the distiller intended, according to the style? For example, is a London Dry Gin clear? If tinted or coloured, is the shade appealing?
2. Nose
First and foremost, is the scent appealing? Does it burn? Are there any clearly identifiable botanical scents, or does it just smell of booze (we call this ‘base spirit’)? Are there many botanical layers, or is the scent one-note?
3. Taste
Does the gin taste ‘ginny’ -- ie, is juniper clearly identifiable? Is the liquid smooth or does it burn? Are the botanical flavours pleasant and well-balanced? How does the gin open up and evolve as you try it for a second time? How does it taste with tonic?
4. Finish
How long do the pleasant flavours of the gin linger? Does the liquid burn as you swallow or is it pleasantly warming? Do the flavours and texture vanish completely?
5. Story and ethos
Does this distillery and their ethos suit our mission to support the craft gin industry? Is the story behind the gin fascinating - one that would delight our members?
