No3 Gin with Dorothy L. Sayers

or more specifically, Lord Peter Wimsey, who sounds like rather more fun to share a drink with than his creator might have been. 

If I had a favourite gin (it's really to soon to tell when there are so many yet to try) I would be tempted to say it's No.3 from Berry Bros & Rudd. In contrast to yesterday's gin from the City of London distillery which wasn't a London dry, this one is a London dry gin made in Holland. There's something pleasingly circular about it all.

Berry Bros & Rudd have been established at No. 3 St James since 1698, there is still a Mr Berry, and they are an institution. When I first visited, maybe 15 years ago, they didn't really do anything as vulgar as display wine (a smart looking assistant was sent to fetch bottles for your approval) but more recently that's changed (it's far less intimidating now for the casual shopper) and in 2010 they released this gin on the world.

Predictably, this being Berry Bros & Rudd, it's both very traditional and very good. They only use 6 botanicals (more is not neccesarilly better, allegedly Tanqueray only uses 4) it's a classic juniper forward gin, it's bottled at a healthy 46% abv, and everything about it - including the bottle based on an 18th century shape, and the key modelled on that for the shop parlour - is classy.

London gin is a style that isn't tied to London, there is a technical (and dryer than gin) explanation Here but I'm not sure it makes things much clearer, the idea of this one being made in Holland amuses me though, and I like to think Lord Peter would appreciate the joke. I don't doubt that he favoured Berry Bros with his custom, and I can't imagine a more fitting or elegant gin for Bunter to whip up a martini with (if only they were still around.

For me the specific book would be 'The Unpleasantness at The Bellona Club', because it's the only one of the set I haven't read, and as brand new reissued copies are in the offing (are they already out?) this might well be my plan for late Sunday afternoon.