In this case it means Quality Control and it's a critical part of creating a great spirit. In order to dial in the recipe for Hills Dry Gin, I went through loads of different botanical configurations, and enlisted some of our close friends who just LOVE gin! We needed them to be utterly ruthless, and I needed to keep reminding myself that the feedback wasn't personal, it was a reflection of (hopefully) unbiased opinion for each blend.

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There were definitely some surprises, like discovering some recipes that would be great for a limited release but not for my core gin, and it wasn't all G&T's whilst relaxing on a lounger. The early rounds of recipe development were undertaken using a compounding methodology, where botanicals are steeped in neutral spirit overnight before being filtered and taste tested. This is a great way to test out lots of recipes quickly, and for little cost or effort. The downside? Brown gin.....

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Later rounds of development are run through a small development still so that the result was a clear gin. This is much more visually appealing, as you can see below

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We also utilised a Gin Spider Diagram for scoring each recipe, with the benefit that it helped illustrate how each participant rated a recipe in six key areas:

• Juniper
• Herbal
• Citrus
• Spicy
• Alcohol; and
• Floral.

I'm indebted to Marcel Thompson and his great book, Still Magic, for these and for a lot more great information.

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