Burgen Dry Gin Barrel Aged - 2021 Weincrowd Edition

About this bottle

Even the label shouts collaboration, because it's hard to tell who took the lead here: Burgen? Weincrowd? It doesn't matter, because, as always, it's the result that counts. And with a gin rested and matured in a cask, there's always a little luck involved. How will the wood react? How much flavour remains from the previous filling? Has it spent too little time in there? Too long? How will it be diluted afterwards?

The cask from Weincrowd

The guys at Weincrowd are already a collaboration in their own right: a blogger and a winemaker have teamed up. Benjamin Schmitt (the blogger) and Reinhard Seidel (the winemaker) founded the crowd and create wines that the Weincrowd helps shape. That's a great, clever idea in itself. So what's to stop them taking it into the next category, spirits? Exactly. Nothing.

Looking for collaborators brought Burgen Drinks and Weincrowd together. With the expertise of the Schlitzer Destillerie behind them, they could make the most of the cask supplied by the two ‘wine guys’.

The American oak cask had previously held Cabernet Sauvignon. It was made in Spain, given a medium toast and then used for the wine. The red wine took some of the cask's flavours with it. But it gave something back: its own aroma influenced and ‘seasoned’ the cask in turn.

A very different ‘pink gin’

When you pick up the bottle, the first thing that catches your eye is the incredible colour. Copper, pink, beautifully luminous. You can already tell that the flavour won't be faint. And it isn't: if you look at and taste Burgen Bio Dry Gin, the base spirit that went into the cask, punchy juniper and citrus freshness dominate. The gin then had plenty of time to rest and interact with the cask. Some of the red wine's flavour passed back into the gin, allowing it to ‘mature’ and mellow. Even the wood could still contribute a little flavour during that time.

What's exciting is how the three components — gin, wine and cask — influence one another in this aged gin. Wood flavours frame the gin's lovely spicy juniper note. Dark, wintry drinks and cocktails with plenty of flavour come to mind. You'll recognise the gin, and its punchy juniper is noticeable here too. The red wine is also unmistakable, rounded off by a cask note that isn't too dominant. A lovely kick follows towards the finish. The gin's characteristic dryness is interesting. Time to experiment. Many aged gins are intended for drinking neat or for whisky-style cocktails. But tonics certainly have a place with this one. Why? Because it takes some incredible turns. One tonic takes it one way, another takes it somewhere else. If you needed a reason to buy a selection of tonics … here it is! A good excuse for a tonic tasting with friends.

Wonderful for cocktails

While this gin makes a very special gin and tonic, its delicate wine flavours are also an interesting feature in cocktails. In a Negroni, for example, the gin can put its wine credentials to excellent use. It brings those red wine flavours beautifully into the Negroni.

This gin is a collaboration between Burgen Drinks and Weincrowd. Each brought something to the table: Burgen its award-winning Bio Dry Gin, Weincrowd a beautiful red wine cask that had already been filled several times. After almost a year resting in the cask, the result is a collaboration that brings together the best of both worlds.