Distiller Notes
Five all natural extractions: Alcoholic distillation, steam distillation, cold maceration of dried herbs, cold maceration of fresh herbs, and hot maceration, all using nearly pure alcohol.
43 botanicals, including juniper, angelica, lemon, orange, mandarin, thyme, lavender, mint, anise, fennel, mountain pine, Melissa, iris, masterwort, savory, clary sage, wormwood, yarrow, licorice, saffron, orange blossom, hyssop, marjoram.
Straw yellow, from the cold infusion of orange blossom and saffron. More juniper than classic gin, a violet scent from the iris, a touch of lavender and citrus, a herbaceous combination of coriander and angelica, ending with mint. Gin 43 has a delicate herbaceous but persistent and citrusy flavor; sweetness given by the mixture of dill, fennel, licorice and anise. A note of bitterness is given by the maceration of the masterwort, gentian, aromatic calamus (or ‘sweet flag’), wormwood, and the essential juniper. A final note is from angelica seeds and roots; on the finish a fresh taste from thyme, melissa, sage, and mint.
Outstanding in the classic cocktails; try a Negroni with Fred’s vermouth, bitter, and gin. Or with good tonic water.
Federico 'Fred' Cremasco is a remarkable young producer of Vermouth, Bitter, Amaro, Gin and Fernet from the town of Polcenigo, in Friuli. You could call him an herbalist; he devises recipes for his products from combinations of botanicals, some foraged wild nearby, some grown by him, some brought in from other areas, then creates his elixirs from these botanicals using varying methods of extraction.
He has experimented endlessly, trying out different methods of extraction (alcoholic distillation, steam distillation, cold maceration of fresh herbs, cold maceration of dried herbs, and hot maceration of fresh and dried herbs) to discover which method best suits the individual botanical. He then devises recipes for his alcoholic elixirs from combinations of these botanical extractions.
For most of the products, each botanical is treated individually, to make sure that the exact right level of extraction is reached for each substance; many producers throw everything in together (indeed many producers buy pre-made 'amaro base' from large companies who specialize in such things, just adding sugar and water). Fred takes enormous care in his work and the result is a collection of some of the highest quality spirits with layers of flavor and a sense of place.
Enjoying an enthusiastic resurgence in modern cocktail culture, Gin, a.k.a. ‘Dutch Courage,’ was originally touted as a 16th century cure for cowardice and stomach ailments. Arguably the broadest and most dynamic category of spirits in terms of flavor profiles and production styles, Gin is a distilled grain spirit that derives its primary flavor from juniper berries and secondary flavors from a dazzling array of spices, herbs, fruits and botanicals. It is both produced and enjoyed all around the world and is most commonly mixed into cocktails such as the Martini or simply added to tonic water.