We tried Home House Gin, and this is what we thought…
Brimming with botanicals including cardamom, coriander and Spanish saffron, this boutique bottling from the private members club is an unexpected treat…
Words: Jonathan Wells
Photography: Dominic Martin
Home House is one hell of a place. All shimmering chandeliers and vibrant velour, the private members club sits sumptuously on Portman Square, and has hosted almost three centuries of soirées and shindigs since the Countess of Home commissioned the place in the 18th century. And Home herself — nicknamed the ‘Queen of Hell’ for her debaucherous, decadent parties — was a firm, infamous fixture on London’s social scene.
Happily, her spirit lives on today — through the club, through the stories and through literal spirits. Because, this month, the members club has launched its very own London Dry Gin (the Countess’ snifter of choice), created in collaboration with an award-winning luxury gin distillery, Oro, in south-western Scotland. And, this week, Gentleman’s Journal settled in on the velvet banquettes for an exclusive tasting.
Giuseppe Dewilde, the general manager of Home House, first had the idea for a bespoke gin last year. He came across Oro when a member nudged him in their talented direction, and he met with head distiller Ray Clynick (who has a background in chemistry) to discuss the spirit of this new, unique creation.
Unlike many clients, Clynick tells us, Dewilde had an almost fully-formed idea of what he wanted this gin to represent. Paying homage to the Countess of Home, he envisioned a feminine spin on the traditional spirit; light, fresh and floral. And so an idiosyncratic blend of botanicals was gathered — as eccentric and exclusive as the club itself.
It’s a list that began, as is customary for all gins, with juniper. Clynick sourced Macedonian berries for this, citing their superior freshness and higher content of unctuous essential oils. Into this he swirled additional botanicals, from Spanish saffron and English rose to angelica, orris root and several citrus peels. A touch of cardamom, a sprinkle of coriander and Home House was well on its way to creating a gin that captured the essence of its extraordinary epicurean heritage.
But there was still something missing, Dewilde admits — a direct link to the Countess of Home’s pedigree and unquenchable character. And this, once found, would form the heart of the gin. The ginmakers, after much sipping and sampling, plumped for ‘lignum vitae’, a botanical known affectionately as ‘the tree of life’, and one that still grows readily around the childhood home of the Jamaican-born heiress. To Clynick’s knowledge, it’s the first time this popular perfume ingredient has been used as a gin botanical.
But such innovation pays dividends, with Home House Gin being awarded a silver medal in the London Dry Gin category at the World Gin Awards in February — before a single bottle had even been un-stoppered on Portman Square. It’s a worthy win; the spirit is remarkably crisp, with its tongue-tingling citrus notes tempered (but not overwhelmed) by gentle floral flavours.
There’s a hint of mango in there, too — despite the tropical fruit not being counted among the gin’s botanicals. It’s an ingredient used in two of the serves we tried, the classic G&T (which is garnished with a wafer-thin round of mango) and a tart twist on the Negroni (mixed with mango bitters), and it relies on Osmanthus tea — the gin’s final botanical — to tease out its juicy, candied flavour.
After a neat nip, three cocktails and a spirited spin through the gin’s backstory, we’re won over by Home House’s first in-house bottling (a rum is rumoured to be hot on its heels). Too often, these bespoke, boutique spirits can be rushed out, with genuine worth or flavour sacrificed in favour of a quick marketing exercise. But the team here has clearly attended to this gin’s every final flourish.
Which brings us to that bottle. Dewilde reveals that the spirit’s glassware went through several iterations. Refined and redesigned until it reached this ribbed, subtly branded style, the glass stopper (an opulent, tactile touch) was sourced elsewhere — and is the last piece of a puzzle that celebrates, commemorates and furthers the heritage of Home House in equal (well-poured) measure.
Want more reviews? We spend a Sunday at The Audley Public House…
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