][1]As noted in previous posts, the 5pm Dining blog has been enjoying a fairly liquid week.
One of the highlights was attending the recently launched Heads and Tales gin bar in Edinburgh for the release of the new Cannonball Gin.
Cannonball is made by the Edinburgh Gin Distillery which has two rather handsome stills on the Heads and Tales premises.
A punchy belter of a gin, it is flavoured with Szechuan pepper, Scottish botanicals such as pine and heather, and double strength juniper all bound together at a potent 57.2% alcohol by volume.
Outstanding martini
Alex Nicol, the jovial Managing Director of Edinburgh Gin, said, ‘Our mission… is to create unique and interesting gins of the highest quality. This gin, although strong, has a great balance of flavours and makes an outstanding martini.’
According to David the distiller, one of the reasons that they wanted to make the over proof gin was because of demand from customers at the bar.
After work drinkers were pitching up from 5pm with the intention of having just the one drink –something many of us have promised.
However, they wanted to make that one drink count so they were asking staff which over proof or extra strength gins they had in their wide selection.
The 5pm Dining blog can confirm that a martini made with Cannonball is certainly an effective way of making the working day fade into the background.
Navy proof
Apparently, Cannonball fits the Navy proof category. Navy proof gin had to be at least 57.2% ABV as at this strength gunpowder would still ignite even if you had accidentally knocked your gin over it.
We’re not sure what this means should you happen to splutter while enjoying a crafty gasper with your gin but we’re not going to experiment.
The bottle design reflects Edinburgh’s heritage with the image of a cannon on the back of the bottle being magnified by the gin. On the front of the bottle is a depiction of Edinburgh’s skyline including the Castle.
You can draw your own lines between the gin and the practice of firing the one o’clock gun every day.
Cannonball joins Edinburgh Gin’s original gin and their more recent orange and elderflower expressions.