Boswellia Sacra (aka Hougary Frankincense) – who the hell he?

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Following Alex’s minor brush with celebrity and light switches just the other week, it feels like Arthur Road is gently turning into Primrose Hill. Alex gets accosted in the street; whilst the traffic was on a go slow all day Thursday, as both The Wedding Dress Shop and The Cake Parlour starred in a film! All day there were dozens of people standing around drinking tea, it’s a funny old business this film business. Word on the street is that it’ll be an advert for a high street bank, so watch this space.

In other news, we lost the second test in The Ashes and currently sit at 2-0 down, still in it though, we’re told. Russia has been banned from the Winter Olympics for “state-sponsored doping” but reports that they have been contracted to organise the after-party yet to be verified. We also understand we’ve reached “Peak Human” and are not sure if we should believe it; last year we were told we’d reached peak beard but we see more and more of them.

New Gin

A few weeks back we asked for suggestions for a new gin and received many excellent suggestions. Thanks very much for all your help. In the end we tasted a few but settled on Sacred “Classic” Gin (£35.00) from a micro distillery in Highgate. They use vacuum distillation which occurs at a much lower temperature than pot distillation giving much fresher and lusher flavours. This gin is the result of much experimentation (in fact recipe no 23!) and contains 12 botanicals including juniper, cardamom, nutmeg, and Boswellia Sacra (aka Hougary Frankincense) – hence the name, Sacred.  As an aside, when we asked our chaps at Hepple their opinion on Sacred, they gave it an unconditional thumbs up which erased any lingering doubts we may have had!

As luck would have it, Sacred have also recently released the first whisky to be aged in London – Sacred Peated English Whisky (£52), pipping the chaps in Battersea to the finish line. They take English Whisky from bourbon barrels and re-cask them in London for further maturation and flavour development in hogsheads – old Pedro Ximenez casks from Bodegas Navarro in Montilla, Spain. These nutty and rich nuances give a truly deep and satisfying single malt. Log-fire smoke from a country pub, sea salt, dried pineapple, clove spice, sweet vanilla and Christmas cake. We have been fortunate enough to grab a few bottles from cask No.2.

We have also had our first Mexican shelf visitor – Lunazul Tequila Reposado (£33). For us, it offered classic tequila notes of baked pineapple, framed in a smoky note from lazing around in barrels for a bit. Very smooth, with a long finish that is gently spiced and smoky.

Tasting this weekend

The white corner will be hosting Jean Loron’s Viré Clessé 2014 (£17.99). The south east facing chalk and clay soils here give this wine a lovely minerality. More complex than a Mâcon, not as rich as a Pouilly Fuissé, and really delicious.

In the coin rouge we are still in Burgundy but a little further north. Domaine Faiveley Mercurey La Framboisière 2015 (£23.99). La Framboisière is a single vineyard wine that Faiveley have owned since 1933. Despite its name, we always find it has a real hint of strawberry about. This is an absolute stunner of a vintage, so do come and have a taste.

Christmas Opening Hours

SUNDAY 17th DECEMBER 11AM – 3PM

MONDAY 18th – FRIDAY 22nd DECEMBER 11AM – 8PM

SATURDAY 23rd DECEMBER 10AM – 8PM

SUNDAY 24th DECEMBER 11AM – 4PM

MONDAY 25th – THURSDAY 28th DECEMBER CLOSED

FRIDAY 29th DECEMBER 11AM – 8PM

SATURDAY 30th DECEMBER 10AM – 8PM

SUNDAY 31st DECEMBER 11AM – 6PM

MONDAY 1st – WEDNESDAY 3rd JANUARY CLOSED

THURSDAY 4th JANUARY 11AM – 8PM

BACK TO NORMAL!

Short and sweet this week – don’t forget to book a space on the Wine School that starts again on Wednesday 31st January 2018 – £150 well worth spending to disperse all those deep winter blues!

Right, back to work with you, before someone notices you’re not examining spreadsheets…

Comments are closed.