Forty-seven botanicals. It sounds like a gimmick until you realise the team at Black Forest Distillers has spent years sourcing, balancing, and refining every single one. Monkey 47 is not a gin that throws complexity at you for the sake of spectacle — it earns its reputation through sheer craft. This is a Contemporary gin that refuses to play by conventional rules, and at 47% ABV, it has the backbone to carry that ambition.
A Botanical Census
The ingredient list reads like a forager's field journal crossed with a spice merchant's inventory. Juniper is present, of course, but it shares the stage with lingonberry, cranberry, and sloe — a trio of tart, bright fruits that lend Monkey 47 a character quite unlike anything from London or the Mediterranean coast. Then there are the florals: jasmine, honeysuckle, elderflower, rose hip, chamomile, lavender. Layer in warm spice notes from cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, grains of paradise, and nutmeg, and you begin to understand the scale of what Black Forest Distillers has attempted here.
What impresses me most is the presence of makrut lime and lemongrass alongside lemon verbena, lemon balm, and pomelo. That citrus spectrum alone would fuel a lesser gin's entire identity. Here, it is just one voice in a very large chorus. Having spent years in Singapore and Tokyo tasting spirits that draw on Asian aromatics, I can say that those Southeast Asian inflections give Monkey 47 a dimension that most European gins simply cannot match.
Black Forest DNA
Spruce is the wildcard — a resinous, alpine note that anchors everything firmly in the Black Forest. It is the botanical equivalent of terroir, a reminder that this gin comes from a specific place with a specific climate and a very particular ecosystem. Acacia, sage, and angelica round out the herbal backbone, while cubeb pepper and ginger add a prickle of heat that keeps each sip lively. Liquorice and orris root provide depth and a silky textural quality that ties the whole composition together.
At £45 this is not an everyday pour, but it is an experience worth every penny. Few gins manage to be simultaneously this complex and this coherent. Every element has a job, and nothing feels redundant. That is the mark of a genuinely well-made spirit, and it is why Monkey 47 has earned its place among the world's most respected gins.
Best Served
Pour 50ml over a large ice sphere, add a premium Indian tonic with low quinine, and garnish with a thin wheel of fresh pomelo and a bruised sprig of lemongrass. If you are feeling adventurous, try it in a Gimlet variation — swap the traditional lime cordial for a homemade lemongrass and makrut lime syrup. The gin's spruce and berry notes play beautifully against that fragrant sweetness. A bottle that rewards curiosity.
