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Portafortuna creates ‘world’s most popular tasting gin’

Spirits producer Portafortuna has partnered with Irish entrepreneur Ken Doyle to create JS Pemberton London Dry Gin, which was inspired by a popular soft drink.

JS Pemberton gin
JS Pemberton Gin pays homage to the ‘world’s most famous’ soft drink

In 2022, Doyle tasked Portafortuna Blend & Flavour House to create ‘the world’s most popular tasting gin’.

The idea was to make a gin with a captivating story that would entertain consumers and engage all levels of the trade, with a realisation that “the world’s most popular tasting gin will need to use the world’s most popular flavour”.

The finished product, JS Pemberton Gin, was inspired by a battle between two 19th-century chemists.

In 1863, Angelo Mariani launched Vin Mariani coca wine, followed in 1885 by JS Pemberton, who copied and perfected the flavour using his original 7X drink recipe.

Owen James, founder of Portafortuna, explained the structure of a modern gin with a specific 19th-century botanical signature: “We produced a classic single batch London Dry gin in alembic copper pot stills at one of Holland’s centres of gin excellence. Using a combination of different Mediterranean junipers we achieved a very malleable gin flavour that did not intrude.

“We then charged the base spirit with a collection of botanicals faithful to the original 7X recipe of 1885. When working with coca leaf and kola nut, the skill is to wrap the earthy bitterness in layers of citrus and sweet flavours to achieve a balance. This is done by steeping them in alcohol for many hours before redistillation.”

The gin recipe includes vanilla extract, neroli oil, damiana flower, nutmeg, lime, cinnamon and coriander.

James continued: “The complex target flavour is familiar but not recognisable. The one notable change from 1885 is that the Peruvian coca leaf extract has been produced per United Nations protocols. The same caffeine-rich African kola nut remains a revitalising and invigorating part of the recipe.”

JS Pemberton Gin’s flavour is a homage to Pemberton’s original recipe, while the label design reflects his battle with arch-nemesis Angelo Mariani.

Pemberton’s 1885 copycat recipe became one of the world’s most popular flavours, which according to James, “is a reasonable basis to claim JS Pemberton is the most popular tasting gin in the world”.

James explained: “We wanted the design to reflect the interplay between the crazy chemists. We started with a tall, elegant bottle, just like the original Pemberton’s French Coca Wine. The shape allowed us to reprise the coca leaf motif on the label and introduce a dancing, drinking Cherette, a visualisation of a female muse created by Jules Cheret and used on Vin Mariani posters.”

Portafortuna has already started to develop a rum based on the same recipe, called JS Pemberton’s Coca Leaf & Kola Nut Golden Rum, which will launch later this year.

JS Pemberton’s London Dry Gin is offered at 40% ABV in a 700ml bottle.

The gin is now available in the Netherlands, and will launch in the UK at the end of February with a suggested retail price of £38 (US$46).

Portafortuna’s portfolio includes Portafortuna XO, a blend of XO Cognac and vintage Port, Pax44 with VS Cognac and cacao nibs, and Pax44 Arnhem Edition, made with whiskey and chocolate.

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