Villa Ascenti Gin 70cl

From just looking at the bottle, it is clear that this is a premium Italian gin, Launched in May 2019, and made at the Distilleria Santa Vittoria in the Piemonte region of Italy, it is the creation of master distiller Lorenzo Rosso. A premium gin, made in a refurbished Frilli copper pot still from the 1970's. Lorenzo is a trained winemaker and distiller born and bred in the Piemonte region and has over 20 years’ experience with Diageo (the owner of the distillery).

It's has been developed to celebrate the region's ingredients and expertise, with the gin being made with Moscato grapes, fresh mint, achillea, tansy, sage and thyme with the herbs being distilled within hours of harvest, helping to retain the essential oils and flavours. The grapes are harvested in August and September, and then undergo a triple distillation process. During the last distillation, Tuscan juniper berries are introduced to make it a gin, whilst capturing the essence of the region.

The flavour is vibrantly fresh, quite sweet with a hint of grape. Its an herbaceous gin which has a defined mintiness to it, which is accentuated when tonic is added. The mint is prominent in the aroma, and develops through the savouring. Overall, this is a delicious gin, which is very reminiscent of time spent in Italy, with the grape spirit adding a pleasant difference to it.

Perfect Serve

This can be enjoyed as a classic gin tonic, in two ways. For both, use a large glass filled with ice. Add 50ml of the gin with 150ml of Fever-Tree Premium Indian Tonic Water. This keeps the mintiness of the gin relatively prominent. However, should you want to tone the mint notes down, swap the tonic for Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water. This keeps a fresh flavour, but allows other flavoursin in the gin to come through. Either way, garnish with a slice of lemon, and a sprig of thyme.