Four Pillars Navy Strength Gin is the Rare Dry Gin with the flavour turned up slightly beyond 11. Bottled at 58.8% ABV — the historic Navy Strength threshold — this overproof gin is distilled with native finger limes from Byron Bay, fresh ginger, and turmeric in the botanical basket alongside the signature whole organic oranges, delivering a gin of extraordinary power, intensity, and surprising cleanliness. Made for cocktails, and built to hold its own against anything you put it in.
Appearance
Crystal clear with the luminous purity of a gin distilled with precision — deceptively calm in the glass for a spirit of this intensity.
Aroma
Lifted aromatics of lime curd, pine needles, and fragrant spices, with a vanilla character that pulls everything together. The native finger limes highlight the Asian spices — coriander and star anise — whilst the fresh ginger adds a bright, spicy lift that is immediately distinctive.
Palate
Intense, sweet, and juicy — but still very clean. The finger limes deliver super citrus notes and lovely high-toned freshness; the fresh ginger brings spiciness and energy; and the turmeric adds weight and a fresh but earthy quality, not unlike dill. The palate is powerful without being aggressive, and the 58.8% ABV carries the botanical complexity with remarkable grace.
Serving Suggestions
Built for cocktails — exceptional in a classic Gimlet, where the finger lime citrus and ginger spice shine. Equally outstanding in a Navy Strength Negroni or a bold Gin and Tonic with premium tonic and a wedge of fresh lime. The overproof strength holds its character beautifully against ice and mixers.
Four Pillars Navy Strength began as an exclusive batch for the Gin Palace before its first public release in 2014. Fresh ‘Judy’s Everbearing’ native finger limes — grown in Byron Bay and possessing an intensity of flavour that is almost impossible to believe — are added to the botanical basket alongside fresh ginger and turmeric, giving the gin its signature power, citrus intensity, and earthy depth. The finger limes go in fresh, not dried, preserving the extraordinary aromatic lift that makes them such a distinctive botanical. Bottled at 58.8% ABV — the minimum proof at which a Navy Strength gin must be distilled.
Producer History
The term ‘Navy Strength’ has its origins in the nineteenth century, when gin was considered something of a panacea for the many ailments encountered on the high seas. The Gimlet itself was invented by a Royal Navy doctor to ward off scurvy — gin to fortify, Rose’s Lime Cordial for Vitamin C. But the more gin-savvy officers of the Royal Navy suspected their supplies were being diluted, and devised a test: gin was often stored below deck adjacent to the gunpowder, and if it was spilt onto the powder and caused it to smoke, the gin had been watered down. Only if the gunpowder still lit was the gin at least 114 proof — 57% ABV — and so the term Navy Strength was born. Four Pillars was founded in 2013 in the Yarra Valley by Stuart Gregor, Cameron Mackenzie, and Matt Jones, and the Navy Strength expression remains one of the distillery’s most celebrated and distinctive releases — a gin that honours the history of the category whilst being unmistakably, unapologetically Australian.
