Other fine spirits

Bathtub Gin takes its name from the type of gins illicitly distilled in London during the 1920's. Although not distilled in bathtubs like its namesake, Bathtub gin continues on the tradition of small batch and handcrafted distillation methods. 

This expression is a modern take on a classic London Dry gin, packed with notes of juniper, cardoman, coriander, cloves and orange peel.

This infused gin from Loch Lomond distillery combines a classic London Dry style gin with natural essences of raspberry and elderflower, inspired by the flora found within the Trossachs National Park. These local, hand foraged botanicals compliment the gin beautifully, creating a vibrant, yet balanced flavour.

Ben Lomond gin gets its name from the 3196 foot tall mountain that overlooks Loch Lomond and the Trossachs area. This gin has been distilled with eleven botanicals, including Scottish blackcurrants and locally foraged rowanberries.  It is vibrant and complex in nature, offering a fresh flavour with hints of berry sweetness.

The recipe for Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve 2021 Caribbean Rum has been created by Head Blender Oliver Chilton to showcase the art of rum blending pioneered by the British Royal Navy. Taking last year’s Black Tot 50th Anniversary Rum blend as the base, re-casking it into ex-sherry butts and barrels, to which they added layers of fruit-driven flavours using different styles of rum, aged between 9 and 24 years, from Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica and Australia, as well as incorporating some of the original British Royal Navy rum blend itself.

For this latest release of the Master Blender's Reserve, the folk at Black Tot Rum drew inspiration from their stocks of historical rums in our collection and the unique flavour profiles they exhibited over half a century ago. These rums, since lost in the rum world, were rich with notes of baked banana, dusty chocolate, mocha milkshakes, honey, tobacco, leather, liquorice, and spice. This complex recipe creates a truly unique and distinctly old-school rum, rarely seen like this today.

For Master Blender's Reserve 2023, Master Blender, Oliver Chilton, has createed a blend that is like an original Navy-issued rum, with a heavy mouth feel and rich notes of wood smoke, espresso and cacao. For this release, a very old rum from Grenada distilled in 1993 was added to the reserve, bringing extra complexity and character not often found in mainstream rum. A distinctly old-fashioned and traditional style, this is a rum to be sipped and savoured

Distilled in 1975 at the closed Uitvlugt distillery in Guyana, this is one of the oldest bottles of rum ever produced. Produced from molasses in the unique Port Mourant wooden pot still, this is an incredibly rich, dense and dark rum. Flavours of liquorice, star anise and fruity black olives lead the nose, with a heady cigar-smoke and fragrant pine note. Orange and spice combine together, bringing a treacle and cherry flavour on the palate, with dark dried fruit (blackcurrant) and a mixture of sweet and savoury tones that last and linger. A truly remarkable rum from Black Tot, bottled without the addition of colouring, sugar or any chill-filtration.

Crafted from a marriage of fruity Barbadian, full-bodied Guyanese and vibrant Jamaican rums, the Black Tot gets its name from the ration of rum issued daily to sailors of the Royal Navy. This is a rich and complex rum, offering flavours of golden syrup, exotic tropical fruits and a leathery hint. A note of coffee and chocolatey mocha comes through on the palate, with butter toffee and oaky spice. A lingering note of roasted bananas comes through on the finish, ending this rich, fruity and slightly funky rum. A fantastic sipping style or one to enjoy as the star ingredient in cocktails.

Founded in 1842, Wm. Cadenhead are Scotland's oldest independent whisky bottlers, who are also renowned for their rum selections. The Cadenhead 'Classic' rum is a blend from distilleries in the Caribbean, bottled from a selection of casks and reduced to 50% ABV. The nose starts immediately rich, with molasses, demerara sugar and asian spices. The palate is very full and rounded, starting sweet before building to a spicy and slightly phenolic (rubbery, hot tarmac) note. For the rum purists, this has no added sugar content of any sort.

Cadenhead's Old Raj Gin is distinctive in that it contains a measure of saffron, the rare and costly spice derived from the crocus flower. In addition to a slightly spicy flavour, this also imparts a pale yellow colour to Old Raj. Rich and clean, with a lovely oily mouthfeel, this gin has flavours of zesty lemon, indian spices and a hint of aniseed.

Cadenhead's Old Raj Gin is distinctive in that it contains a measure of saffron, the rare and costly spice derived from the crocus flower. In addition to a slightly spicy flavour, this also imparts a pale yellow colour to Old Raj. This expression, bottled at 55%, is one of the few high strength gins on the market, fantastic in a gin & tonic but is also particularly well suited to classic cocktails such as a martini.

A rare find for rum enthusiasts, the legendary Caroni from Trinidad, this single cask, cask strength expression was bottled by Adelphi from a refill hogshead cask. Adelphi's notes describe a rum of incredible complexity: notes ranging from aged Riesling, fresh ginger, rhum baba joining 'old automobile' and even a suggestion of petrol. The palate offers bitter chocolate, wood shavings and mint, with Turkish delight and bramble fruit.

It's Christmas in February, with the somewhat late arrival of the Cotswold's annual Cloudy Christmas Gin. Their recipe for their classic juniper-led gin style sees the addition of festive cardamom spice and tangy, sweet clementine citrus notes. The cloudy aspect of this gin is seen when adding tonic or ice, causing the rich concentration of botanical oils to form a natural haze.

The Cotswolds 'Old Tom' gin is in keeping with a traditional Old Tom, slightly sweetened with natural sugar syrup and with the distillery's woody notes from liquorice root, light spice from ginger, zesty orange citrus and a hint of cardamom. Garnish with orange peel or make a Tom Collins cocktail with this great English gin.

Distilled at the Cotswolds distillery in England, this dry gin is made with nine botanicals, including locally sourced lavender. The distillery uses 10 times the botanical quantity of most gins, meaning it is likely to cloudy when ice or tonic is added - this is as a result of the high levels of natural oils and flavours that have been retained. Sweet and piney with an earthy background, this is a hearty gin with a herbaceous quality as well, lifted by citrus and cooling eucalyptus. The recommended serve includes pink grapefruit and a bay leaf.

Inspired by the glorious grasslands of the Cotswolds, our No.1 Wildflower Gin is a delightful blend of cornflowers, lavender and orange layered over a classic dry gin. Reminiscent of summer meadows and bursting with zesty orange notes, our Wildflower Gin is fresh, floral and fruity with a pleasantly dry finish. Paired with premium tonic and a slice of orange, it makes for the perfect gin spritz.

Distilled in a hand-beaten copper pot still at the Dingle distillery in Ireland, this vapour-infused gin has nine locally grown botanicals such as roawn berry, bog myrtle and heather alongside the classic juniper and angelica. Enjoyed as a martini or straight, the classic Dingle G&T serve is with a wedge of orange and a sprinkle of juniper berries.

Mantuano is the latest blended rum release from Diplomatico. Aged for up to 8 years in ex-bourbon and ex-malt whisky casks this boasts aromas of dried fruit and plums with a delicate oak spiciness. Dried fruits carry through to palate accompanied by well balanced wood and soft vanilla notes. A great rum to enjoy neat, on the rocks or to use in your favourite rum cocktail.

Diplomatico's Reserva Exclusiva is a complex blend of copper pot still rums that have been aged in oak barrels for up to 12 years. It has a characterful sweet nose, showing notes of fruit cake, vanilla ice cream, cocoa, toffee and sweet spices. This all leads onto the palate which is rich and extremely well balanced with some chocolate, orange and nutty flavours also emerging. It is deep, vivid and extremely seductive and it currently one of the world's most awarded rums.

This 12 year old rum was produced at the multi award winning Foursquare distillery on the Caribbean island of Barbados. It is rich and sweet with notes of butterscotch and tropical fruit and has a full-bodied viscous mouthfeel with flavours of toffee apple, toasted spices and orange.

This 14 year old rum was produced at the Foursquare rum distillery on Barbados which was awarded rum producer of the year in 2018 at both the IWSC and International Spirits Challenge - no mean feat. The rum is a blend of pot and column still rums that have been aged predominantly in bourbon casks as well as some Madeira casks which help impart flavours on dark chocolate, red berries, tropical fruit and sweet spices.

Produced at the little-known Epris distillery in Brazil, this 12 year old selection bottled by Wm. Cadenhead of Scotland at a high strength of 51.4%. The aroma is earthy and woody, with coffee, spices and raisins. On the palate, richly spiced again with herbal nettle and agave notes, joining dried apricots, finishing again on herbaceous tones of tarragon, basil and fennel.

Equiano Rum has arrived on our shelves, bringing together a blend of Carribbean and African rums, from Gray's distillery in the Mauritius and Foursquare distillery in Barbados. This is a traditional style of rum - created without any additional sweetening, flavouring or enhancing, it is the sole product of barrels that have matured the spirit of two great producers. There is a full and rich quality to its taste, with warm butterscotch, flowing caramel and a tang of orange and anise to finish.

Produced from a blend of aged and unaged Caribbean and African rum (Mauritian, Barbadian), this new release from Equiano shows itself to be an excellent quality white rum. The freshness of tropical fruit and citrus oil gives way to vanilla and a distinctive tone of ripe sugarcane. This style of rum is underrated here in New Zealand and one that is well worth exploring if you like character and flavour in your white rums.