Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin (75cl, 47%)

Bombay Sapphire is a London dry gin first launched in 1987, sold in its sapphire-blue bottle, which takes its name from the Star of Bombay sapphire. It is bottled at 47% in a 75cl bottle. Its character comes from the method. Carterhead stills hold ten botanicals in perforated copper baskets above the spirit, so rising vapour passes through them rather than the botanicals steeping in the liquid. This gentler extraction gives a lighter, more floral and aromatic gin in which each botanical stays distinct. The vapour infusion technique goes back to Thomas Dakin, who bought land in Warrington in 1761 to distil gin and adapted his copper still with a botanical basket.