Gin Mare Mediterranean Gin, 70cl

Product Information

A single malt whisky is a little like a single vineyard wine, it’s got extra complexity and unique flavours and aromas that come from being made by a particular distillery. This 10-year-aged Single Malt Whisky from the historic Linkwood distillery was made from just three casks, each of which were re-charred hogsheads - a rarely-seen type of cask which imparts additional flavours of nuts, cream and spice. Without the financial input of the Naked Angels it would have been simply impossible for us to produce a custom made craft gin of high quality on such a short time schedule. The production of Rambla 41 consolidates my very young company and helps us enormously to move forward. My gratitude is immense.

A Spanish winemaker can work full time for one winery or consult with several, usually smaller producers. If the winemaker works on a consultancy basis, there is an additional figure such as the winery manager who looks after everyday tasks and helps implementing the winemaker’s guidelines. In this case, the identity of a wine is normally linked to the winery itself or the land where the grapes originate. Only very exceptional, renowned winemakers’ names occupy a space above a winery and a vineyard which in any case are there too as a wine’s credentials. Naked Wines do not hide that winemaker Jorge Caus Pertegaz works for a “huge winery” but they immediately go on to mention that “his passion is getting into a small pet project of his own”, so that the reader is cunningly, swiftly transported to the fantasy world of vignerons. The bitter reality is that Jorge is the technical manager of, Font de la Figuera, Valencia based La Viña, a co-operative owned by 1,500 farmers who nurture a total of 2,400 hectares, that every year processes up to 13 Million kilograms of grapes. That is the equivalent to the volume processed by all 77 Spanish wineries registered with the appellation D.O. Bierzo.I love to produce high quality and individual wines and spirits in a sustainable way. This business is about bringing pleasure and joy to the consumer. Enjoying quality, drinking the right spirit or wine at the right moment is an experience that I want to share with everybody. The inventive use of winemaker profiles that impersonate vigneron-style, Spanish producers is perverse: it tells customers a half-truth and sets a very poor precedent for authentic, small Spanish wineries struggling to stand out from the crowd with quality, artisanal wines. According to Wikipedia, “Naked Wines’ customers (called Angels) fund independent winemakers from around the world, in return for wines at self-described “wholesale prices”. However, the Financial Times notes that most wines sold by Naked Wines are not available on the retail market, “making direct price comparisons virtually impossible”, and most wines are priced “close to usual retail price”. They currently ship wine throughout the UK, USA and Australia. On 10 April 2015, Naked Wines was acquired by Majestic Wine and [founder] Rowan Gormley was appointed CEO of the enlarged group”.

Our first-ever Norwich gin makers debut gin is a coastal-inspired number with lots of lovely flavours and aromas you’d traditionally find on the Norfolk coast. It’s the same recipe that won Silver at the IWSC awards as well as Best English Contemporary Gin at the World Gin Awards in 2021.The taste was similar; very subtle and very difficult to pin point what botanicals were present in the mix. I do know that it was very fresh and herby, like the smell, and it almost had a green tea like taste with hints of bitter, earthy notes. After researching the ingredients, it is revealed that Rambla 41 contains some lovely sounding botanicals: almond, juniper, Angelica, orange and lemon peel. On re-tasting the gin with this new knowledge, I was still unable to distinguish any almond or angelica, but the citrus did then sneak through. There were some sweet notes too which may be from the almond after all. Mixed with tonic, Rambla 41 is unobtrusive and, disappointedly, unimpressive, making for a very ordinary gin & tonic. All in all – too subtle for my liking. Whisky-loving Angels have been begging us to do a Single Malt for ages, so we paid a visit to our whisky wizz Rupert to see if he had anything special hiding up his sleeve. And lo and behold… he pulled out this beautifully-aged, smooth Speyside Scotch, poured us a wee dram, and put a great, big smile on our face.