Gin Syrah United States Kentucky

Known as Syrah in most countries around the world, and Shiraz in Australia and certain other regions of the New World, this grape varietal has proven over the centuries to be one of the most powerful and flavorful red wine grapes there is. It is now one of the planet's most widely grown grapes, and is a favorite with wineries as a result of its robustness and versatility. It isn't easy to identify many characteristics of this particular varietal, due to the fact that it is highly versatile and shows significant differences in flavor and character depending on the terroir it is grown in, and the climatic conditions of the region. However, Syrah is most widely associated with full bodied, strong and loud red wines, packed full of fruity and spicy flavors, held in a beautifully deep red liquid.

Of all the New World wine countries, perhaps the one which has demonstrated the most flair for producing high quality wines - using a combination of traditional and forward-thinking contemporary methods - has been the United States of America. For the past couple of centuries, the United States has set about transforming much of its suitable land into vast vineyards, capable of supporting a wide variety of world-class grape varietals which thrive on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coastlines. Of course, we immediately think of sun-drenched California in regards to American wines, with its enormous vineyards responsible for the New World's finest examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based wines, but many other states have taken to viticulture in a big way, with impressive results. Oregon, Washington State and New York have all developed sophisticated and technologically advanced wine cultures of their own, and the output of U.S wineries is increasing each year as more and more people are converted to their produce.

Of all the spirits produced in the United States of America, whiskey is surely king, and no state is as closely associated with this spirit as Kentucky. The history of Kentucky whiskey stretches back to the beginnings of the 18th century, when Irish settlers in the state began distilling the corn and grains they were growing into spirits, partly as a way of using up their crops, and partly as a sweet reminder of the home they’d left behind. Over the following decades, the whiskey industry boomed, as the country as a whole developed a taste for Bourbon, and many of the distilleries we know and love today were first founded.

Kentucky Bourbon is now very much an international spirit, enjoyed in every corner of the globe by those seeking out authenticity and originality in their whiskey. In 1968, the American Congress officially recognized Kentucky Bourbon whiskey by declaring it a ‘distinctive product of the United States’, and new laws and regulations sprung up as a way of protecting and preserving the reputation the state and the spirit enjoyed. These included the rule that Kentucky Bourbon must be aged for a minimum of two years (with many aged for a great deal longer) in white oak barrels, and contain absolutely nothing other than a fine grain mash, yeast and water.