Portobello Road Distillery launches savoury gin as tonic to sweet expressions

Portobello Road Distillery has launched a savoury gin that rebels against a recent influx of sweet, fruity expressions on the market with savoury Mediterranean botanicals including  green gordal olives and sea salt.

If you’re looking for something a little less sweet from your gin and tonic, then you’ll doubtless be delighted to learn of Portobello Road Distillery’s new Savoury Gin.

The expression has been created by Portobello Road Gin co-founder Jake F. Burger, and serves as a tonic to the influx of sweet, fruity pink gins that have dominated the marketplace in recent times.

“Never being distillers to follow the crowd, we initially created this gin as a rebellion against the burgeoning popularity of sugar-loaded, fruity, “Pink Flavoured’ gins, the type of gin whose flavours are reminiscent of the candy shop or the dessert bar, and which typically pack a lower alcoholic punch. So we instead went in the opposite direction, adding no sugar, no colour, sticking to wholesome flavours, and keeping the gin at our signature 42% abv. We very much designed this gin to be consumed before or during lunch or dinner, or in a dry cocktail like a Martini.” Jake F. Burger said.

“We don’t want to stomp on sweet gins, there is clearly a market for them and many are very tasty indeed, and of course, the addition of sugar or fruit to gin is nothing new – indeed throughout history gin was a sweeter product for far longer than it has been a dry product. However, many of the tautologically named ‘Flavoured Gins’ we now see on the market today are, in our humble opinion, not really gin at all. They are fruit liqueurs or fruit vodkas, where the juniper – if it’s noticeable at all – is certainly far from being the predominant flavour. 

“We believe it’s important to protect the character of the spirit that has been such an intrinsic part of our nation’s history, whilst still embracing innovation. So that’s why we created Portobello Savoury, a new style of gin, but one that respects the traditions of the category.”

According to a press release, Savoury Gin boasts Mediterranean botanicals including “Calabrian bergamot peel, green gordal olives from Seville, rosemary, and a small pinch of Mediterranean sea salt”.

Portobello Road Distiller’s Savoury Gin’s (42% ABV) RRP is £35. The bottle will be available from June on Ocado and is available now for the on and off-trade, distributed by Mangrove.

Read More: Taylor’s has launched the first Port and tonic in a ready-to-drink format.