First Impressions
Defiance Premium Gin uses fourteen botanicals foraged from across the UK — wild juniper from Speyside, tangerine root from Lancashire, spruce tips and sweet cicely from Yorkshire. Douglas fir and myrrh gum add woodland depth to this Rochdale distillery's ambitious London Dry.
Tasting
The nose is earthy and resinous with juniper, cardamom and pine-like spruce. On the palate, citrus brightness moving into woodland spruce-myrrh, measured warmth from cinnamon-nutmeg. The finish is dry and long with earthy backbone and anise echo.
The Bottom Line
Defiance earns a 7 for genuinely foraged English gin with botanical depth. The myrrh and Douglas fir create a woodland character, and the sweet cicely adds an anise dimension. At around £35, Lancashire craft with countryside provenance.
