spain - Island of menorca
Mahón Gin is distilled in the port town of Mahón on the Spanish Balearic island of Menorca
- a 1 hour flight off the coast of Barcelona.
MAHON GIN - STORY
- Grape alcohol from Spain’s Penedès region is used as the base distillate. The grapes used are Parellada and Xarel-lo, the same ones used for making Cava = GLUTEN FREE
- 2 year + sea air aged Juniper berries are key to flavor profile
- The unique bottle is a glass version of the traditional Spanish ceramic Caneca
THE ISLAND OF MENORCA
- Menorca’s stunning and pristine coastline is designated a UNESCO Biosphere reserve.
- A history starting with the British Navy stationed here in the 1700's because of the deep water port. The island began producing gin for the British Navy
- DO for Gin. [ Denominación de Origen (DO) Mahón-Menorca ]. One of two in the world. The island of Menorca has been distilling gin since 1708. Original demand came from British sailors and soldiers stationed in the Spanish islands
MAHON HARBOR - XORIGUER Distillery
The Distillery is the white building located on the seawall
Xoriguer - pronounced "sho-ri-gair" - the old windmill
The windmill on the label has belonged to the owners, the Pons family since the 18th century
JUNIPER
- Wild juniper berries are sourced from the foothills of the Pyrenees on the Mediterranean Sea. They are then open sea-air aged at the distillery for 2 to 3 years. This shrivels and hardens them, but more importantly, concentrates the aromatic profile. The contentrated flavors contribute to the silky smoothness of the gin
- Since the berries are stored at the distillery on the harbors edge, salt particles do have a leisurely time settling upon them, hence the most likely reason for the slight saline notes.
- Botanicals are not revealed as the family guards the secret closely
DISTILLERY
- Distillation takes place in a nearly 300 year old wood-fired, traditional copper still
- Distilling is still a manual labor intensive process
AWARDS / ACCOLADES
Gold Medal 91 Points, 2018 - Beverage Testing Institute
Gold Medal, 2018 - The Fifty Best
4.5/5 - 2016 - BEVX
MAHON EXPERIENCE 2017
2 Sales Reps + Boston based bartender Sam Treadway spent a week in Spain learning all about Spain and the Xoriguer Distillery.
Highlights included Barcelona's coolest cocktail bars tour, Menorca Island Winery tour and lunch, full tour and educational day at the distillery participating in the distilling of a batch of gin for the USA, a cocktail feature party at the exclusive Cova d'en Xoroi and the winning bartender's cocktail featured on a release of Mahón Gin.
Stay tuned for details on the Mahón Gin Experience 2019.