A remarkable collaboration via Zoom between India’s Stranger & Sons and Four Pillars has resulted in the fourth release in the Distiller Series – Spice Trade Gin.

Four Pillars first met the team from Stranger & Sons at Bar Convent Berlin in 2019 were taken by their passion, expertise, charm and the quality of their very first gin release.

In 2020, they celebrated making the first Indian gin to win a Gold Outstanding Medal at the International Wine and
Spirits Competition in London, with Four Pillars winning International Gin Producer of the Year at the same event. Amid the
congratulatory emails, a suggestion to collaborate was was made and immediately accepted.

“Despite us both being trapped in our own distilleries on the other side of the ocean, surely we could make this happen,” the Victorian distillery recalls.

The resulting gin is described as A Goan spice bazaar, meeting some Aussie natives in a bottle, a cornucopia of bright
vibrant Indian botanicals.

“It is big, bold, spicy and delicious,” Four Pillars proclaims. “This is definitely not a gin for the faint-hearted.”

“Spice Trade Gin is quite literally a spice bazaar in a bottle,” Four Pillars distiller Cameron Mackenzie adds. “It is
vibrant, aromatic and, if ‘colourful’ was a sense, then it would be that too.”

Sakshi, Co-founder at Stranger & Sons agrees: “We’ve been flagbearers of showcasing India’s agricultural abundance and
wanted to share the wonderful spices and flavours that are rooted in India’s heritage. The team at Four Pillars have managed to capture those bold and complex flavours of Indian spices and botanicals perfectly in the Spice Trade Gin.”

“Firstly, it is unmistakably gin,” McKenzie notes. “There is a huge weight of juniper, which we needed because the power of the botanicals needed a solid canvas. Then you get powerful aromas of finger lime, chilli, cardamom and turmeric sourced from the western mountains (ghats) and coast of India.

“The palate is huge. The weight is built from macadamia and cashews along with sarsaparilla and cassia which hold the
spices together. The warming spices of green Szechuan, long pepper, fresh red chilli and black cardamom blend with lemon and anise myrtle to add to the power and depth of the gin.”

Pictured below is the “Give it a Goa”:

Ingredients

50mL Spice Trade Gin

15mL fresh lime juice

15mL sugar syrup

2 x 1-inch cubes of watermelon

4-6 curry leaves

Method

Place watermelon in the base of a highball and gently press with a bar spoon. Add a small amount of crushed ice then the remaining ingredients and churn with bar spoon. Cap with more crushed ice. Garnish with a watermelon wedge and curry leaf.

Four Pillars Spice Trade Gin – 43.8% ABV; $85 RRP – will be available at good bottle shops, online, at the Four Pillars distillery door in Healesville and the Sydney Laboratory in Surry Hills from March 25.