Our woodlands creak with whispers of lore and the dark, dreadful tales gone before. Where witches once wandered, cast spells and cursed, picked ripe, juicy apples, a tonic to their thirst. Their orchards become haunted, a plague of misfortune. Those who dare enter, assured to be tortured. From twisted branch the damned apple we snatched. To squeeze, mulch and drip into this frightful batch.
Introducing October’s Innovations Club release, Haunted Orchard Gin. A treacle and apple gin, distilled with seasonal apple, fig, angelica, devils claw and pumpkin seeds. This Halloween inspired gin is set to give you a frightful punch of flavour. A dry gin balanced with sweet notes from the apple, fig and treacle syrup. Serve this spooky addition to our Innovations Club, with Indian tonic to bring out the notes of apple.
Inspiration
October’s release is inspired by all things autumn and our rich local history. The distillery sits the shadows Pendle Hill and the local area is shrouded in myth and legend, mostly that of the infamous Pendle Witches. Any woodland walk this time of year quickly becomes a spooky saunter and your imagination can’t help but run wild. Did our local forests harbour lurking witches? We like to think so! We distilled this month’s release with apples, synonymous with witches, curses and of course, no Halloween party is complete without apple bobbing!
Junior Distiller, Ryan, also selected the other botanicals used in distillation based on the season and their spook factor. “I wanted to use figs in distillation, not only are they perfect in early autumn but I’ve always found them creepy in a way, they remind me of spiders eyes, as silly as that is to say. I added pumpkin seeds to the botanical mix for this Halloween product and root called devils claw – not only is the name appropriate but it helped to stabilise the other botanical flavours. This release was fairly difficult to work with, especially when it came to harmonising all the flavours and using the treacle syrup while eliminating any bitterness.”
Botanicals
Apple
Cinnamon
Coriander
Cranberry
Devils claw
Fig
Juniper
Melissa
Pumpkin seed
Sultanas
Tamarind
Tonka beans
Vanilla
This gin is finished with a light, sweet treacle syrup, made by Ryan.
Following on from last years Peddler’s Pins Gin label, Molly Designed and hand painted the label for Haunted Orchard. In the folk tale that accompanied Peddler’s Pins, Alizon Device was walking though Trawden forest when she cursed the peddler. “When Junior Distiller, Ryan started experimenting with apples for this release I pictured witchy hands picking apples form dark twisted branches in haunted woodlands of Trawden”
The apple on the label is dripping with dark treacle and the background is inspired by the inside of a fig – another seasonal fruit Ryan used in distillation.
Perfect serve
Serve Haunted Orchard Gin over ice with tonic, a slice of apple, sprig of thyme and cinnamon stick.
Or if you want a real spook try The Ghostly Gimlet Cocktail
Need October’s gin and not a member of our Innovations Club? Become a member now with £10 OFF here.
