New Monkey 47 gin adds rare botanical

German gin brand Monkey 47 has unveiled its 2015 Distiller’s Cut, which contains the rare spignel plant as one of its botanicals.

Monkey 47 gins adds an extra ingredient to its 47-strong botanicals list for an annual Distiller’s Cut limited edition.

Christoph Keller, master distiller of Monkey 47 producer Black Forest Distillers, sourced spignel from the Wolfach area in Germany’s Black Forest for the bottling.

Growing in mountainous regions, it is a strongly scented perennial herb with delicate, aromatic leaves and white flowers.

Keller sourced the botanical from a 300-year-old farm, where it grows in the wild.

“This year, in a complex and extensive production process, the macerate of the 47 ‘traditional’ ingredients of Monkey 47 was enhanced to include spignel seeds, distilled again, matured for three months in earthenware containers, before finally being combined with soft spring water from the Black Forest,” the distillery said.

Described as a “refreshing, tangy” gin with “vegetable top notes”, Monkey 47 Distiller’s Cut was unveiled at trade show Bar Convent Berlin this week.

Alexander Stein, founder of Monkey 46, said: “Black Forest Distillers is about craftsmanship and competency of distilling. So every year we try and do something educational with our Distiller’s Cut.”

Just 4,000 bottles of Monkey 47 Distiller’s Cut 2015 will be available throughout the brand’s 50 global markets. Last year’s Distiller’s Cut added a purple shamrock to its ingredients.