gin no. 081 – RBG Lilac Gin

Our 2023 family vacation took us to Canada, and on the way from Toronto to Niagara Falls, we stopped at the Royal Botanical Garden in Hamilton. We had a lovely lunch at the Rock Garden Bistro. I particularly enjoyed the Lake Erie Pickerel Cake, which is a local variation of a crab cake. I also had a nice Lavender Collins cocktail, which I mistakenly thought was made with their gin, but is actually made with Collective Arts Lavender and Juniper Gin.

The garden partners with Manns Distillery to create RBG Lilac Gin. They use Manns London Dry gin and hand picked lilac from the RBG. I bought a bottle at lunch on August 8, 2023 and added it to The Collection as gin no. 081. Once I had it, we walked through the Rock Garden which was absolutely beautiful.

After that we went back to the main gardens and I took a picture of the bottle in the Scented Garden which seemed appropriate.

I didn’t open the bottle for another week. I was having a little dinner party for my dad for his birthday and made a French 75 with this gin. I’m calling it a RBG 75. He doesn’t often drink gin and still really enjoyed it.

I also tried it neat and thought it was good. It has a pleasant purple hue and a slight nose of lilac. It is only 40% ABV so it is easy drinking. I haven’t tried it with tonic yet, but I will soon. On top of everything it’s a very fair price, $40.70 Canadian, about $30 US. I’m very excited about this rare gin and special souvenir.