First Impressions
Method and Madness is the experimental arm of Midleton Distillery in Cork — home to Jameson, Redbreast and some of the world's most famous Irish whiskeys. Master distiller Brian Nation and apprentice Henry Donnelly created this gin in 'Mickey's Belly', Ireland's oldest gin still, first commissioned in 1958. The lead botanicals are black lemon — whole lemons dried until their citrus oils concentrate into intense dark complexity — and wild Irish gorse flower, which adds a unique coconut-like floral character found nowhere else. Sixteen botanicals in total, from the conventional (juniper, coriander) to the eccentric (basil, bay leaf, caraway).
Tasting
The nose is lemon balm and shredded ginger with wild gorse flower adding its distinctive character. On the palate, spicy pine meets earthy woodland frost, a burst of black lemon citrus cutting through, cardamom and caraway warmth, basil freshness, bay leaf herbal depth. Sixteen botanicals in remarkable harmony — the black lemon's concentrated intensity and the gorse flower's sweetness threading through everything. The finish is clean and long: rooted orange citrus, slowly roasted spice, gorse flower honeyed sweetness on the exhale.
The Bottom Line
Method and Madness earns an 8 — Gold at Gin Masters 2021 and 2022, Irish Whiskey Awards winner 2024. The black lemon is a stroke of genius: drying whole lemons concentrates their citrus oils into something far more complex than fresh peel. Combined with wild Irish gorse flower — which blooms yellow across the Irish countryside and tastes of coconut and honey — it creates a gin that could only come from Midleton's experimental mindset. Ireland's oldest gin still producing Ireland's most innovative gin. The madness is the method.
