Another day, another Tanqueray! Tanqueray Lovage is the new, limited edition expression of the famous gin – made with garden herb lovage and inspired by a historical recipe from the brand’s founder, Charles Tanqueray.
Hot on the heels of the launches of Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla and Tanqueray Malacca we have the new, limited edition Tanqueray Lovage.
Inspired by an original recipe created by Tanqueray in 1832, the new expression is a “savoury twist” on the classic Tanqueray expression, thanks to the addition of English garden herb, lovage.
Created with the help of world-renowned bartender Jason Crawley, Tanqueray Lovage is described as “deeply herbaceous, celery-like and earthy, whilst retaining that signature juniper-citrus forward style”.
Crawley said: “It has been really special working on this historical Charles Tanqueray recipe and it’s been interesting transforming his work into a modern day liquid. It’s been quite a humbling experience for me.”
The new expression is said to be the first gin created with lovage, which presented its own challenges for the Tanqueray distillers.
“We had to work a lot harder on the distilling process, because at first it came through a bit soupy,” explained Crawley. “We had to practice, adding a little bit more this and a little bit more that. We looked at it a bit like a graphic equaliser – we had all the key parts of Tanqueray, but we turned up the bass a little, turned up the treble and dropped down the middle section. It was all a case of tweaking it.”
Around 100,000 bottles of Tanqueray Lovage will be released across Europe, Taiwan and Hong Kong, each bottled at 47.3% abv. – hopefully some of this allocation will be turning up in duty-free stores.
Tanqueray’s global marketing manager, Joanna Segesser, said: “Innovation is at the heart of everything Tanqueray does. Just like our founder, Charles Tanqueray, we love experimenting and working with new botanicals, so it’s a pleasure to see one of Charles’ original recipes being created at a time where savoury cocktails are on the rise.”
Tanqueray Lovage carries an RRP of £44 (US$58.75) per one-litre bottle.
Suggested serves for Tanqueray Lovage including a G&T with 50ml gin to 150ml of premium tonic water, garnished with coriander leaf and four juniper berries.
The Dibble
45ml Tanqueray Lovage
30ml Chilled prosecco
30ml Fresh pressed lemon juice
15ml Yellow Chartreuse
15ml Celery syrup
2 dashes Celery bitters
Pinch of celery salt
Shake and strain all ingredients except prosecco into a chilled coupette glass. Top up with chilled prosecco.
