New Bombay Gin Product Puts Asian Twist on Botanical Mix

We still don't know the name of the new Bombay Sapphire Gin product, which is to be unveiled in July in three test markets (including New York), but the botanical recipe was been revealed. 

Joining the 10-botantical recipe found in regular Bombay Sapphire will be Thai lemongrass and Vietnamese black peppercorn, according to a company spokesman. The original ten ingredients are Spanish almonds, grains of paradise, lemon peel, licorice, juniper, orris root, coriander, cassia bark, and cubeb berries.

Like Bombay Sapphire, which was launched in 1987, and is one of the first premium gins to hit the market, the botanicals for the new liqour will not be steeped in the spirit. Rather, the distilled alcohol vapors are passed through a mesh basket containing the botanicals in order to catch the flavor and aroma.

The use of Asian botanicals is not a new idea. Beefeater 24, a line extension that was introduced in late 2008, features Chinese green and Japanese sencha teas.