Empress 1908 Gin (75cl, 42.5%)

Empress 1908 is a Canadian gin made in small batches in copper-pot stills by Victoria Distillers on Vancouver Island, in collaboration with the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria. The 1908 in the name is the year the hotel opened. Its eight botanicals include juniper, grapefruit peel, rose petal, coriander seed, ginger root, cinnamon bark, the hotel's black tea blend and butterfly pea blossom. The blossom gives a natural indigo colour, which shifts towards lavender and pink with tonic or citrus. No artificial colours are used. Expect earthiness from the blossom and tea, then grapefruit-peel citrus, rose-petal florals and warm ginger and cinnamon spice over juniper.