Gin puts on the glitz and glamour

By Chrissie Fairclough of Gin Club Scotland

IT'S a well-known fact that gin can make you cry. And it’s definitely a fact when you take a look at some of these hideous gin bottles. Grown men, it’s time to get your hankies out.

Sweet Little Mermaid Pink Gin

This raspberry and cherry flavoured gin comes in a bottle shaped like – you guessed it – a little mermaid. See what they did there? Genius. Give that marketing manager a raise. The producers claim the bottle is a thing of beauty and they have ‘never seen such exquisiteness’, which makes me think they don’t get out much. It weighs in at a respectable 42% but the price tag is a staggering £45 for 50cl.

Pink 47 Gin

Now this is actually a good gin. For starters, it isn’t pink – despite the name. A classic London Dry at 47%, it takes the lavish approach of having two different types of angelica and also coriander – a mad distiller’s quirk. But what in the world was the design team thinking? It comes in a ‘unique’ (you’re not joking) diamond shaped bottle, inspired by the legendary Khavaraya pink diamond. It’s awkward to hold and looks completely mad – but apparently sales for Valentine’s Day go through the roof. A decent price point helps: £27 for 70cl.

Glitter Bomb Luv Heartz Gin Liqueur

The 18% vol Glitter Bomb range claims (and I said claims) to be the flagship in glitz and glamour. To be honest, I think the bar is set pretty low. Packaged in a heart shaped glass bottle, it is designed to be shaken before pouring to wake up the glitter. Part of a family including Bubblegum, Razberry (not a typo), Blingberry and Glamango, each bottle comes with a disclaimer that the liquid colour may vary between batches and over time. Says it all, really, but if you hanker for glitter and have absolutely zero self-respect it costs £23 for 50cl.

Chrissie Fairclough is tastings director for Gin Club Scotland, which runs touring and distillery-based tastings, as well as offering tasting kits for people to run their own events. www.ginclubscotland.com

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