About Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin 2019 (700 ml)

Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 37.8.%

Country of origin: Australia

Bottle size: 700 ml

 

 

Best consumed within 2 years of vintage, but don’t worry, you won’t need reminding. (From Four Pillars: “The gin is unfiltered and may start to develop dried fruit characters beyond two years”). Each vintage is subtly different, and so each will never quite be the same as those before or those after.

Can there be anything more inviting than gin-soaked shiraz grapes? Oh yes, indeed there can be. Simply infuse both gin and grapes perfectly, then add more gin, and then bottle it all at 37.8% ABV. Then, get a master distiller to tinker with your formula for a few years and you may just have a poor cousin of Four Pillars’ 2020 batch of Bloody Shiraz Gin.

Save yourself the trouble and simply buy a bottle. Or two. 

Born in 2015 from an inspired idea from head distiller Cam MacKenzie, this shiraz-flavoured gin is truly unique in a brave new world of unique gin. Juniper (of course) is present and accounted for, but so too is a delicious balance of Yarra Valley shiraz grapes. The act of creation involves the Four Pillars standard – thier Rare Dry Gin – being steeped for upwards of two months, before pressing the gin-soaked shiraz grapes, and finally mixing with more gin. The result? Well, it's a little bit like this:

• Colour: deep, rich and vibrant – this shiraz gin doesn’t bow towards the vineyard, it carries a full shiraz character via its deep red and rich purple complexion. A dark pink in a G&T, this gin will also yield an unusual, deeper character in gin cocktails.
• Nose: complex, sweet, yet peppery, and undoubtedly complex. Bloody Shiraz is deeper in its bouquet than your average flavoured or Sloe gin. Aromatically, we get a teasing, junipery pine note, with hints of citrus and pepper, as well as more dense, earthy berries. Bright raspberry with deeper plum and wet cherry.
• Palate: A definite peppery spice, but at the same time a sweetness that belies its lack of added sugar. The sweetness lingers. A juniper tease on the palate (the gin-like flavour beckons but never stamps its authority), with spice on the finish.
• Mouthfeel: Bloody Shiraz Gin is thicker and more viscous than any sloe gin, but not as thick as a light Muscat or Port (or desert wine). A perfect half way house between an 80 proof spirit (more like 75-proof) and a liqueur in terms of mouthfeel. 

Serving suggestions: straight and on the rocks, garnished with a slice of orange. Or drink it lighter and brighter in a colourful Gin & Tonic with a dry tonic. 

About Four Pillars Distillery: Four Pillars was established with a focus on gin. But great gin doesn’t just make itself.

We recognised that our real focus would need to be on the craft of distilling. But the story starts back in 2013 we embarked on a tour of the US West Coast, from Portland down to San Francisco, identifying distilling techniques and equipment we admired. What stood out above all to us was that all the gins we loved on our trip were made in a Carl still.

18 months later, we took delivery of our own custom-built still from Carl of Germany, and we called her Wilma (after Cameron’s beautiful but explosively tempered late mother). And Wilma turned out to be amazing, drawing extraordinary botanical flavour from a combination of rare, native and traditional botanicals. She delivers an unbelievable purity of spirit (the gin comes out of Wilma at 93.5% ABV) despite our unique approach of distilling our benchmark Rare Dry Gin with fresh, juicy biodynamic and highly-aromatic oranges. And she has now been joined by her larger sister Jude, and significantly smaller sister Eileen - both also made by Carl.

We hope you agree we’re on the right path. The judges at a number of prestigious international competitions must think so, as we've been awarded a Double Gold, Gold or Master status for all our mainstay gins in the past two years.