Distillery Info
Production Notes
The sloe berries at the heart of this gin are wild-growing Prunus spinosa — blackthorn berries harvested by hand from the Black Forest after the first frost, when the cold has softened their skins and concentrated their flavour. Steeped in myth and legend, the blackthorn is a close cousin of the plum and was grown around farmsteads in the Middle Ages to protect against witches — a real all-rounder, as the distillery notes with characteristic wit.
Once harvested, the berries are washed and macerated in Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin at 47% alcohol. After several good stirs, the macerate rests for four weeks, allowing the sediment to settle before being drawn from the top of the tank. A hydropress extracts further liquid from the sediment without damaging the berries. The results are filtered several times before being added back into the macerate, water is added to bring the alcohol to 29%, and after six weeks the Schwarzwald Sloe Gin is ready. Unfiltered, unhurried, and unmistakably Monkey 47.
Producer History
Monkey 47 was born from the extraordinary life of Montgomery Collins — diplomat’s son, RAF veteran, Black Forest settler, and the man whose eclectic biography gave the world a gin of 47 botanicals and unrivalled complexity. The Schwarzwald Sloe Gin is the natural extension of that story: a gin that takes the same 47 botanicals and the same Black Forest provenance, and adds the wild sloe berries that grow in the hedgerows and forests that Collins called home. For the full Monkey 47 story, see the Schwarzwald Dry Gin.Today, we’d like to introduce you to the (ok, not-so-secret) main ingredient of our Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Sloe Gin. Blackthorn – or sloe, as Prunus spinosa is also known – is a plant steeped in myth and legend.
It's also a close cousin of another stone fruit: the plum, with which it shares its reputation for reducing inflammation, calming upset stomachs, and soothing kidney and bladder ailments. In the Middle Ages, blackthorn hedges were even grown around farmsteads and other property to protect them from the baleful gaze of witches. A real all-rounder, this sloe!
Once our sloe berries are harvested after the first frost, we wash them before macerating them in Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin (at 47% alcohol, of course). After several good stirs, we let the macerate rest for four weeks, which lets the sediment settle to the bottom of the tank. The macerate is then drawn out from the top. We also use a hydropress to extract further liquid from the sediment without damaging the berries.
The results are filtered several times before being added back into the macerate. We then add water to bring the alcohol content down to 29%. After that, it takes just six weeks for Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Sloe Gin to find its way into our glasses. Cheers! Distillery Notes
