Capreolus is a name that turns heads among spirit enthusiasts — a distillery built on a reputation for capturing the essence of fruit and botanicals with rare precision. Their Garden Swift Dry Gin sits in the Flavoured category, and at 47% ABV, it carries enough backbone to let whatever garden-inspired botanicals are at work here truly sing.
A Garden in a Glass
The name tells you everything about the intent. This is a gin that wants to evoke an English garden in full bloom — that moment in late summer when herbs are at their most aromatic and fruit hangs heavy on the branch. Capreolus has built its identity around fruit distillation, and that philosophy clearly extends into their gin work. The "Garden Swift" moniker suggests speed and lightness, a gin designed to be bright and immediate rather than brooding.
At 47%, this sits comfortably above the minimum for a proper dry gin, which tells me the distiller wants you to experience intensity without heat. That's a confident choice for a flavoured gin — many in this category hide behind lower ABVs and sweetness. Capreolus appears to be doing the opposite: letting the botanical character stand on its own terms.
The half-litre format at £44.95 puts this firmly in premium territory. You're paying for craft here, and Capreolus has the track record to justify it. This is a gin for someone who has graduated from the mainstream London Drys and wants something with personality and provenance. I'd rate it 8.1/10 — a polished, thoughtful expression that rewards attention.
Best Served
Try this with Fever-Tree Mediterranean tonic, a sprig of fresh shiso leaf, and a thin slice of Asian pear. The herbaceous quality of shiso will amplify the garden character, while the pear adds a subtle sweetness that complements fruit-forward gins beautifully.
