Gin Advent Calendar and Premium Rum Collection from Master of Malt
Gifted by Master of Malt
Christmas is less than 38 days away. This will either fill you with Will Ferrell-as-Elf levels of excitement, or it will strike ice cold dread into your heart.
If you haven’t done any gift-buying yet, or perhaps you don’t really know where to look, don’t worry. There’s a boatload of retailers selling fabulous products, and with Black Friday coming up, you’ll hopefully be able to pick something up online.
One of these retailers is Master of Malt, check out their Black Friday Deals here. Master of Malt is one of the places I shop, which is why I was pleased to receive gifts from them to review.
That Boutique-y Gin Company | Drinks By The Dram @ Master Of Malt
First up is a Gin Advent Calendar containing 24 x 30ml wax sealed gin miniatures.
I enjoy cooking with gin and creating cocktails with a botanical twist. This is why I couldn’t wait to dig in. Yes it did feel naughty to open the entire advent calendar before Christmas, but I had to do it for this write up (bwahaha cue evil laugh). 😊
This gin advent calendar is by That Boutique-y Gin Company | Drinks By The Dram, that found its way into my living room via Master of Malt. Gin is actually really versatile.
I always like to firstly take a sip neat, so I can understand the true flavour profile before I start adding other ingredients to it.
You can make it longer by pouring a traditional Gin & Tonic. Add 2 parts tonic water to 1 part gin, so in this instance, 60ml tonic water to 30ml gin. Then add ice, a twist of lemon and enjoy for a festive afternoon pick-me-up. How about a pretty red Negroni that fits the festive bill with its Christmassy deep red colouring? Add equal amounts of gin, Campari and vermouth rosso. (Feel free to garnish with an orange medallion if you have an orange in the fridge.)
Or you can add a splash of gin in food; I’ve added a good glug to cheesecakes and frostings to make a boozy treat for grown-ups.
What I love about this advent calendar is the pretty packaging. The illustration is eye-catching and it feels like you don’t really need any wrapping paper for it, just hand to the lucky recipient and there’ll be smiles all round.
Contents are 24 different wax sealed drams by 9 distilleries from 4 countries. Contents may vary slightly from box to box, but here’s what I received in my package:
- Chocolate Cherry Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Double-Barrelled Gin – Cotswolds (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Smoked Rosemary Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Monastic Gin – Blackwater (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Proper Pink Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Moonshot Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Cherry Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Pan-Pacific Gin – Farallon Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Spit-Roasted Pineapple Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Mojito Gin – Conker Spirit (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Yuzu Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- CitroLondon Dry Gin – Fifty Eight Gin Distillery (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Chocolate Orange Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Louche Lemon Decadence Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Cucamelon Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Bush Tucker Gin – Chilgrove Spirits (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Neroli Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Port-Barrelled Pink Gin – Salcombe Distilling Co. (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Finger Lime Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- GINgle All The Way (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Squeezed Yuzu Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- From Lima With Love Gin – London to Lima (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Honey Pomelo Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
- Rhubarb Triangle Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
Drinks By The Dram Premium Rum Collection
This Premium Rum Collection contains 12x 30ml drams from award-winning distilleries to boutique bottlings. I love how you can expand your rum knowledge with these boxes. It’s like ordering a tasting menu in a restaurant where you can sample swathes of the menu through small plates. My box contained:
- Gosling’s Black Seal
- Ron Zacapa Centenario Sistema Solera 23
- Doorly’s 5 Year Old
- Gosling’s Family Reserve
- Flor de Caña 12 Year Old
- Don Q Oak Barrel Spiced
- Atlántico Gran Reserva
- Clairin Communal
- Veritas Rum
- Hattiers Premium Reserve Rum
- Signature Blend #2 (That Boutique-y Rum Company)
- Hampden Estate 8 Year Old
I love rum. I prefer sipping rum but I also enjoy making rum cocktails.
Again, I like to sip neat rum before I start adding any other ingredients to it. One of my favourites from this box is the Atlántico Gran Reserva. This is a gorgeous sipping rum with notes of butterscotch and earthy wood, two of my favourite flavours. I also enjoyed the Clairin Communal which is so floral and zingy, it would go really well with an orange juice based cocktail. Here’s a quick recipe. Add 30ml Clairin Communal to a tall glass, top up with chilled orange juice, add a splash of grenadine, simple syrup to taste (if you have a sweeter tooth), garnish with a lime wheel and voila, you have a refreshing and beautiful cocktail.
I thoroughly enjoyed tasting the rum and gin from Master of Malt. I discovered some really tasty tipples and that is the beauty of these tasting boxes and advent calendars – you just don’t know when you’ll discover your new favourite drink.
Do you have a favourite gin, rum or festive drink? I would love to know.