Dr Brock's homage to the citrus of Murcia

Dr Anne Brock visited Australia last month to celebrate the release of Bombay Sapphire’s Premier Cru, crafted to celebrate the region of Murcia in Spain from where the citrus for the gin is harvested.

Premier Cru is an homage to, and celebration of, the growers of the region, said the Master Distiller for Bombay Sapphire.

The gin has an age statement – 2021 is the first but certainly not the last - and is described as “Premier Cru” as it uses the best citrus from the year, all hand picked, hand peeled and dried in the Mediterranean sun.

The region of Murcia sits in a basin between the mountain and the sea, Dr Brock explains and is known as the “kitchen garden of Spain”. Following the harvest of lemons at their ripest point late in the season, they were stored in Geneva under the care of Bombay's Master of Botanicals, Ivano Tonutti.

The citrus was shipped to Dr Brock in south west London where she carefully worked with her team of 14 distillers to craft this new liquid. The Premier Cru is entirely vapour infused at the home of Bombay Sapphire, Laverstroke Mill in Hampshire.

She explains that it is a distillation process that holds the botanicals in baskets along the lyne arm of the still, away from the grain spirit and water in the body of the still.

She says, "We extract the flavours from the botanicals by passing vapour through the baskets during distillation. It’s a unique extraction method that allows us to get a very specific flavour profile out – one that is a bright and natural expression of the botanicals we use."

Dr Brock graduated from Oxford University with a PhD in Organic Chemistry, before becoming the lead distiller at Bermondsey Distillery in London.

She joined Bombay Sapphire as Master Distiller in 2017 and oversees a team of 14 distillers who make every single drop of Bombay Sapphire consumed globally, the world’s most popular gin.

She says that from the minute she joined Bombay, she was welcomed as part of the family and is especially proud of the relationships that the company has with the harvesters of its botanicals.

“Bombay could not be Bombay without its harvesters,” she says and recalls that when she went to visit the juniper harvesters in Tuscany for the first time, the harvesters, Mr and Mrs Pastorini “welcomed her to team Bombay”.

So while Bombay the brand is so big and well known, the elements that bring it together are particular, unique and the result of long, well-earned partnerships between the distillery, particularly Mr Tonutti , and the harvesters he works with and relies on.

Held at a higher ABV of 47 per cent, Premier Cru is elegant, yet bold and bright while remaining remarkably smooth and refined, with no artificial flavours and sustainably certified botanicals.

Saturday 12 June is officially World Gin Day, a global celebration of all things gin. Below are some of Master Distiller Dr Anne Brock’s ideas for spricing up your regular G&T.

•  Switch up the garnish to match the flavour profile of the gin: Lime wedges are the standard gin and tonic garnish, but there’s a whole jungle out there: cucumber, strawberry & mint, a slice of orange

• Stir in a sprig of herb: to intensify the aromas and the taste. For harder herbs like rosemary, marjoram and sage,  bend or break sprigs, so their oils infuse into the liquid better, then remove them once the desired intensity of flavour is achieved. With softer herbs like mint, parsley, coriander, and tarragon, tear the leaves before adding them to the drink.

• Use a flavoured premium tonic water, like Fever Tree or Strangelove. Tonic water can also be the key to indoctrinating those who think they don’t like gin into loving it.

• Don’t be shy with the ice: At its core, a Gin & Tonic should be refreshing.

Bombay Sapphire Classic Gin & Tonic

• Ingredients:
• 50 ml Bombay Sapphire
• 100 ml Premium tonic water
• Lime Wedge

Method:

Fill your balloon glass to rim with large, cubed ice, pour over 50ml of Bombay Sapphire, squeeze fresh lime into drink and drop into glass. Top with premium tonic water. Stir and enjoy

Bombay Sapphire Premier Cru French 75

• 35ml Bombay Sapphire Premier Cur
• 15ml Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 ½ tsp white sugar or 5ml sugar syrup
• 75ml Brut Champagne

Method

Glass: Champagne, martini or white wine glass. Add fresh lemon and sugar to a shaker and stir to dissolve. Add Premier Cru & fill with cubed ice. Shake hard then strain. Top with chilled Champagne, stir slowly with a zest of lemon.