Aviation Gin has been at the forefront of micro distillation before the rise of the small and craft distilleries. Visiting Australia during Bar Week, I spoke with Co-Founder Ryan Magarian who referred to it as “a whiskey drinker’s gin with marked viscosity and roundness.”
Aviation Gin is made is made from a single maceration process using corn-based spirit. Three classic botanicals, juniper, coriander, orange peel and four defining layers with aniseed, cardamom, Indian Sarsaparilla and lavender go into making the New Western Gin.
For Ryan Magarian, the ideal drink for the gin is gin, soda and lemon which he calls “the missing link” in the world as it is easily accessible. In a gin and tonic, he prefers Q Tonic for its extra dry and mild flavour which does not overpower the gin’s botanicals. His ideal Martini has 80 ml of gin, 20 ml of Dolin Dry Vermouth and 1 dash of Wigans orange bitters.
When it comes to Aviation Gin cocktails, the gin has an affinity with citrus preferring lemon over lime and goes well in citrus-based cocktails such as a gin daiquiri, French 75 and the Aviation cocktail. The gin goes equally well in savoury cocktails such as the Pepper Delicious, a take on a gin daiquiri with Aviation Gin, fresh mint leaves, simple syrup, lime juice and extracted red pepper juice, muddled, shaken, and fine strained into a cocktail glass.
The Jasmine Cocktail recipe below was served at The Barber Shop bar in Sydney during Ryan’s visit. Don’t mistake it for a Cosmopolitan or sweet girly drink. The cocktail packs a punch yet it is easy to sip two or more and the combination of Aviation Gin with Cointreau and Campari gives the drink an unmistakable grapefruit flavour profile.
Jasmine Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- 60 ml Aviation Gin
- 20 ml Cointreau
- 15 ml Campari
- 20 ml lemon juice
Glassware: Coupette or Martini Glass
Garnish: lemon peel
Method
Add all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Top with ice and shake well for approximately 10 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
