There's something rather wonderful about a distillery that wears its geography on its sleeve. Southwestern Distillery, perched on the rugged Cornish coast, produces Tarquin's Cornish Dry Gin with a botanical bill that reads like a love letter to both tradition and place. At 42% ABV, it sits at a very drinkable strength — enough backbone to carry its twelve botanicals without ever becoming aggressive.
A London Dry With Soft Edges
Tarquin's is classified as a London Dry, which tells us something important about how it's made: all the flavour comes from the distillation itself, with no post-distillation additions beyond water. That's a discipline I deeply respect, because it means the distiller has to get everything right in a single pass. What makes this particular expression so interesting is the way it balances a classic juniper-forward backbone with genuinely delicate floral and citrus elements. Devon violets and elderflower are not botanicals you find in your average London Dry, and their inclusion here signals a gin that wants to be approachable without abandoning its roots.
The Botanical Story
The twelve-botanical recipe is beautifully constructed. You have your foundation — juniper, coriander seed, angelica root, orris root — providing that earthy, resinous architecture that every good gin needs. Then there's a triple citrus layer of lemon peel, orange peel, and grapefruit peel, which I'd expect to bring brightness and lift. Cardamom and cinnamon add gentle warmth without tipping into spice-bomb territory, while liquorice rounds out any sharp edges with subtle sweetness. It's the kind of botanical bill that suggests real thought has gone into how each ingredient interacts with the others during distillation.
Best Served
This is a gin that absolutely sings in a classic Martini — I'd go 3:1 with a quality dry vermouth, stirred for a full thirty seconds over large ice cubes, and expressed with a grapefruit twist to echo those citrus peels. If you prefer something longer, a simple G&T with a premium Indian tonic, a sprig of fresh thyme, and a twist of orange peel would let those floral and citrus botanicals really open up. For something more adventurous, try it in a Bee's Knees: two parts gin, one part fresh lemon juice, three-quarters part honey syrup. The elderflower and violet notes should pair beautifully with the honey.
At £38, Tarquin's Cornish Dry represents genuine quality from a craft distillery that clearly understands the balance between honouring London Dry tradition and expressing something distinctly its own. I'm giving it an 8.5 out of 10 — it's a thoughtfully crafted gin with a botanical recipe that demonstrates real skill, and it's versatile enough to work across cocktails and long serves alike. A bottle well worth having on your shelf.
