The story starts in Scotland, in a coastal town called Girvan, population 8,000. That’s where chemist and master distiller Lesley Gracie combined 11 botanicals with pure Scottish water, distilling the brew in a pair of antique copper stills inside a WWII munitions factory. That’s where four professional nosers sniff the spirit daily, and that’s where liquor company William Grant & Sons named the concoction Hendrick’s Gin, after a 112-year-old family relative’s rose gardener.
Such is the tale that Hendrick’s Brand Ambassador Mark Stoddard told inside the Amanda Harris Gallery in Downtown Las Vegas last week during the Peculiar Cocktail Academy. He walked us through the production process, sung the praises of the secret recipe utilizing 11 botanicals like coriander, juniper berries and Bulgarian rose petals picked before dawn, and he taught us to make three simple Hendrick’s cocktails that could very well become part of your regular rotation.
Pick up a pretty black bottle, think about the small Scottish town where it was born and try your hand at one these refreshing libations.
Cucumber & Blood Orange Cooler
This basic beverage is light and sparkly, showcasing the gin’s complex flavor.
2 oz. Hendrick’s Gin
½ oz. Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur
lemon wedge
sparkling water
cucumber spear (garnish)
In a long glass, add ice, gin, Solerno and lemon juice and top with sparkling water. Stir and garnish with a cucumber spear.
Cucumber Lemonade
Meet your new favorite lemonade. If kids sold this stuff at stands, cocktail bars might go out of business.
1½ oz. Hendrick’s Gin
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 oz. simple syrup
sparkling water
cucumber spear (garnish)
In a long glass, add ice, gin, lemon juice and simple syrup and top with sparkling water. Stir and garnish with a cucumber spear.
Tenured punch
It’s the holiday season and your party will be so much better with a batch of this stuff. Want to feel extra classy? Freeze some cranberries and lemon wheels into your punch bowl ice block.
12 oz. Hendrick’s Gin
8 oz. fresh lemon juice
8 oz. simple syrup
8 oz. sparkling water
20 oz. weak green tea
4 oz. Lillet
Angostura bitters to taste (about 6 dashes)
Cucumber wheels (garnish)
Lemon peels (garnish)
In a punch bowl over a large ice block, add first six ingredients. Add bitters to taste, and garnish with cucumber wheels and lemon peels. Stir well for one minute.
