Tarquin's Brilliant British Blackberry Gin - 70cl - 38% ABV

Southwestern Distillery is one of the most boldly adventurous and brilliant distilleries in the UK.

Based in Cornwall, the small team has been making delicious, flame-fed craft gins since 2013, with the eponymous maker of the entire Tarquin's Gin range stuffing his car with newly waxed bottles and delivering them across the length and breadth of the county.

Juniper has always been key to Tarquin's Gin, but also key to the brand's success is collaboration – from the Eden Project, to Rick Stein and even to our sister site, Gin Foundry, Southwestern Distillery is always keen to share ideas and work with others to create often mad but always brilliant gins.

The Brilliant British Blackberry was a very strange addition to the lineup in that Southwestern went straight past go. They launched it as a full-time member of the Tarquin's line up without even testing it via a limited edition batch first. It was unexpected…

It was the right decision, as they struggle to make as many bottles as they sell. Tarquin's Brilliant British Blackberry Gin is like nothing else on earth. There's an initial hit of gloopy red gummy sweets, with a big bright and floral honey lighting up the senses. The red fruit comes and goes as the underlying gin's botanicals try to make their mark, with a lemony coriander warming up proceedings. It's a strange one, too; at 38% it's too strong to be a liqueur, but it's definitely far too smooth to categorise as a straight up gin...