Hot Sauce Gin - Few Spirits

FEW Spirits are known for being an inventive bunch, but Hot Sauce Gin takes the biscuit. Or takes the kebab. Or something. Anyway. What they've done is taken a batch of bourbon that was finished for a year in barrels that previously held bourbon and then hot sauce. They then re-distilled this whiskey with juniper, Guajillo peppers and Ancho chillies. Savoury, spicy and with a balancing hint of sweetness, this gin is as action-packed as the label - which features FEW's Paul Hletko and Maverick Drinks' Michael Vachon kicking barrels off of a roof and pelting Atom Brands' Ben Ellefsen and Nick Ravelhall with peppers as they're chased by a wave of bourbon. Action. Packed.

Tasting notes:

Nose: A provocative nose with a light sweetness and soft green pepper - with a sly wink this gin doesn't give too much away.

Taste: Oily rye bread with fennel seed and sweet dark toasted sugar. A little heat, like biting on a bell pepper seed..

Finish: A sweet, floral warmth gradually builds and there is a pepper warmth from the hot sauce. Just when you think the flavour is gone with a bang, a boomerang of fresh green pepper flavours returns with menthol peppiness.