The wonderings, ponderings and other 'ings' of me. Lifestyle, review, news and opinion posts. Chic with a hint of sarcasm... hopefully!

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Review Time: Bombay Sapphire Tour

I’ve got a wonderful husband… No this isn't a ‘smug married’ post it’s a ‘compliment before I say something a bit mean’ post.  As I was saying he’s proper awesome but a right bugger to buy presents for.  If he wants something by the time he’s told you what it is he’s already ordered it online and if he hasn't it’s because it costs a gazillion pounds.  So if like me you have someone in your life that is as difficult to buy for as Kanye is crackers then the Bombay Sapphire Distillery Tour may be just the thing you need to hear about.  Which is where we found ourselves this weekend as I purchased these via Travelzoo as a Christmas present for awkward pants himself.  

We walked over to the red brick buildings with our usual positive ‘it’s definitely not going to rain’ attitude and just about made it indoors before the heavens opened. We were given a map of the buildings and then left to our own devices. This felt quite freeing as it meant I could run around and touch as many things as I wanted.

The little ear piece thingys could tell you more about the distillery if you were so interested.
In truth there wasn't much that was out of bounds and anything truly delicate was behind huge cabinets so that clumsy types couldn't cause too much trouble. Like these past entrants to a gin glass competition which produced some seriously odd offerings and one or two my kleptomania itched for. 




As architecture, the distillery is all out beautiful, lots of Victorian grandeur and the show-stopper greenhouse which you can’t fail to be impressed by.  This housed a number of the botanicals that go into making Bombay so distinctive including liquorice, orris root, grains of paradise (I kid you not!) and cubeb berries.  


Proof the sun did come out after a while!
The botanical dry room was my favourite and the most interactive aspect of the tour.  You get to touch, sniff and taste over 20 different roots and spices, all in a bid to work out what your taste buds like best.  When you’ve found something that floats your boat you clip the corresponding number out of the flavour chart or ‘aroma map’ – I’ll tell you why in a sec.   Seems I like the aforementioned cubeb berries, (no I still don’t really know what they are either) cassia bark and lemon peel… who knew?



Then it was time for my other favourite part of the tour.  The bar! It’s here that you hand the bartender your aroma map and they recommend a cocktail for you for free!  I had the Laverstoke, a heavenly mix of:
Martini Bianco - one whiff of which took me right back to my teen years! 
Elderflower cordial 
Fever-Tree ginger ale (cos duh! middle class)
Mint sprigs
Lime
Ginger root 
Beefeater gin…… syke! Not really obvs its Bombay you use, loony.

Honestly even if you aren’t a mahoosive gin drinker I’d highly recommend this as it was scrumptious.  I liked it so much I had a second one which only cost a fiver.  I may have been in Cambridge too long but to me that’s actually quite a good price for a cocktail.  If it was a blisteringly lovely day I could easily have spent a few more hours here and fingers crossed will do just that if I go back in the summer months. 




Cheers!

Drink responsibly blah blahdiddy blah et cetera.

SHARE:
Blogger Template Created by pipdig