Sacred Gin


Reduced temperature distillation is achieved by distilling each botanical separately under a vacuum ranging from 1/12th atmosphere to 1/6th atmosphere. There is also a "negative activated carbon effect" from distilling the botanicals separately which can best be explained by considering the distillation of all botanicals together, in which the presence of just one single aroma absorbing element will affect the entire gin. If this hypothetical mix of botanicals were distilled separately, the single aroma absorbing element would be unable to absorb flavors from its neighboring botanicals, and hence the overall flavor of the resultant gin is enhanced. This reduced pressure/reduced temperature also means that the complex 3 dimensional terpenes such as limonene, geraniol, pinene, eucalyptol and terpenoids such as citral, menthol etc. do not get the opportunity to stereoisomerise into their more "stewed" versions, which would be recognised as "marmalady" and bitter flavours so prevalent in gins distilled at higher temperatures. In the mid to late 17th Century, the Dutch spice trade was dominated by the Dutch East India Company and substantial new spice discoveries were documented by the Carmelite missionary Father Mattheus à St.Joseph. This resulted in Dutch dominance of the spice trade for some decades and the famous and significant botanical Encyclopedia, Hortus Indicus Malabaricus, was published in 12 large volumes at this time. Sacred Gin draws its' botanical references from this work.