Fords Gin is crafted to be a highly versatile, all-around gin suited for a whole array of classic cocktails and their variations. Here’s what you need to know about the gin created by a bartender for bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts.
Fords Gin – Photo Supplied
Simon Ford is a renowned and well respected industry figure with an extensive career in the drinks industry which includes a Brand Ambassador role with Pernod Ricard working with Plymouth Gin. In 2012, he released Fords Gin through The 86 Co. which he co-founded and was later acquired by Brown-Forman.
The Fords Gin Story
Simon Ford created Fords Gin with versatility in mind. Gin has been a big part of his career path and with the extensive knowledge he gained working in England’s oldest working distillery, he sought to create a well-rounded gin that is as well suited to classic cocktails as it is to modern interpretations.
Crafted with cocktails in mind, classic gin cocktails were broken down by their flavour profiles and subsequently paired with several popular gin botanicals to determine the most versatile mix of botanicals possible.
It began with drawing flavour maps which detailed gin botanicals, their key flavour pairings and ingredients commonly found in gin cocktails. This led to the recipe development and eventually the creation of the Fords Gin Flavour Map (see below).
How Fords Gin is Made
Fords Gin is distilled at Thames Distillers in London with Charles Maxwell at the helm, an 8th generation master distiller with over 40 years experience in gin distillation and whose family started making gin in London in the 17th Century.
Nine botanicals make up the gin namely juniper, coriander, lemon, grapefruit, bitter orange, cassia, angelica, orris and jasmine flowers. The botanicals are steeped for 15 hours in the base spirit in a hand-made still to release most of their oils and extract the maximum flavour. Distillation takes place in 500-litre stills at the Thames Distillery before the spirit is sent to Mendocino County, California, where it is cut with local well water and bottled at 45% ABV.
The result is a juniper-forward London Dry Gin with notes of citrus, sweet spices and floral elegance teeming with balance and complexity.
Cocktails by Flavour Map
In a diverse spirit category, what sets Ford Gin apart is its versatility in cocktails, making it at home in a Gin & Tonic as it is in cocktails. The table below summarised the Fords Gin Flavour Map where the botanical is paired with a key flavour and a corresponding cocktail.
| Botanical | Key Flavour | Cocktail |
| Juniper | Vermouth | Martini |
| Coriander | Ginger | Ori-Gin-al Cocktail |
| Orange | Campari | Negroni |
| Lemon | Various | Limmer’s Punch |
| Grapefruit | Lime | Gin Rickey |
| Cassia Bark | Cherry | Sling |
| Jasmine | Honey | Bee’s Knees |
| Angelica | Sherry | London Calling |
| Orris | Blackberry | Bramble |
Fords Gin is available in 700ml bottles through Dan Murphy’s online.
Click through to the following pages to view a selection of the cocktails.
In partnership with Brown-Forman.
