Bombay Sapphire Gin is distributed by Bacardi. It was launched in 1987 and draws its unusual name from a marketing competition where several marketing agencies were asked to submit possible new names and bottle designs for Bacardi’s new Gin. The chosen name refers to an Indian heritage of gin, as it was an extremely popular drink during the time of the British Raj. The Star of Bombay is a famous Indian Sapphire now on display at the Smithsonian Institute.
Bombay Sapphire Gin is considered a London Dry Gin. This refers to the process of distillation and not the current origin of the gin. London Dry Gin is made through a double distillation of a neutral grain spirit with botanicals added during the second distillation. The ten botanicals listed on the Bombay Sapphire website are: Spanish almonds and lemon peel, West African grains of paradise, Chinese licorice, juniper berries from Tuscany, orris root from Italy, angelica root from Saxony, coriander seed from Morocco, cassio bark from Indo China, and cubeb berries from Java.
It will be most interesting to see what this bevy of ingredients from around the world has imparted into the spirit.
Here is an excerpt from my review:
“…I am a naive son of a gun. I actually expected a light blue coloured gin to flow out of the bottle the first time I poured it. Alas, the bottle is blue, not the gin. It is a clear colourless liquid which imparts just a very light sheen of oil on the side of my glass. The aroma from the glass is a clean aroma with a piny (juniper) citrus note…”
You may read the full review here:
The Rum Howler Blog 