A Journey through Gins lesser known relatives (Part 5: Navy Strength)

Navy Strength Gin is produced just like regular Gin except for its powerful 57-58% alcohol content, that’s enough to knock you on your ass quick smart if your not watching your drinks.

History

Navy Strength Gin as suggested by its name was consumed by the British Royal Navy as they cruised around the globe colonising and generally creating trouble. The British government actually regulated in the 18^th century that there Royal Navy ships should have a quantity of Gin aboard at all times.

This Gin was often stored in the same area as the Gun powder and certain savvy officers quickly realised (no doubt after particularly energetic drinking sessions) that if the Gin spilt onto the gunpowder and the gunpowder fizzled or failed when lit that there Gin was low in alcohol content.

So they discovered that Gin needed to be a minimum of 57% or in those days british 100 proof to ignite. A simple test of soaking the gunpowder in Gin and lighting it was devised as a means to ensure that there Gin was not being diluted by dodgy distillers and merchants.   

The Juniper Dilemma

Should Juniper be the dominant flavour or one of many flavour components.

Juniper a coniferous plant in the genus Juniperus has a fleshy fruit like female seed cone which when distilled gives Gin its distinct Pine flavours, or so Wiki tells me.

Current Market

When one thinks of the flavour of Gin, Juniper is what most people believe they are tasting.

That is ofcourse not necessarily the case, what im saying is that people don’t necessarily know what the flavour of Juniper is and many popular Gins arguably don’t taste like the pine needles from your Christmas tree. People have come to associate Gin as a spirit that is generally refreshing and can be spicey, fruity, floral, earthy or Piney or in the case of a good one all of the above. So basically when you consider the current market offerings there are many often big name products that I would not consider as having juniper as the predominant flavour.

The Dilemma

So the Dilemma that is creating a bit of a stir at the moment is ofcourse how to define Gin should Juniper be the predominant flavour or just a flavour component. Should the Juniper content be legislated or is a wif of a single juniper berry in the general direction of the distillery enough.