Spirits experts recreate one of the earliest gin recipes

27 June, 2014

Philip Duff with the original 1495 manuscript

Spirits experts Gaz Regan, Dave Broom and Philip Duff have recreated what they believe to be one of the earliest gin recipes on record.

Funded by EWG Spirits & Wine, Gin 1495 will be distributed to a selection of bars and auctions around the world and will be gifted to gin and spirit museums.

The recipe which was recreated in the EWG Spirits & Wine head offices in Villevert near Cognac last week, was inspired by Philip Duff’s discovery of a recreational gin recipe from 1495.

Duff, who made the discovery while living in Rotterdam ten years ago, told DI: “This historic recipe, based on grape distillate, is part of the very foundation of the category.”
 
The team replicated the original 1495 version and created a modern interpretation.

Gin 1495, which numbers 100 bottles – made from earth and ware bottles – will be launched alongside a glass vessel of the modern creation.

Each Gin 1495 pack will be encased in a tome with a note from master distiller and founder of EWG Jean- Sébastien Robicquet along with a copy of the original recipe from the 1495 manuscript.
 
Robicquet said: “Gin 1495 is the fundamental expression of our business. It represents a search for knowledge, an insistence on quality and a reliance on the skills we draw from our heritage.
 
“We see the birth of gin, with a wine based spirit in 1495 and its rebirth today in 2014.”





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