First Impressions
Manchester sits at the confluence of three rivers — the Irwell, the Medlock and the Irk. The City of Manchester Distillery, home to a 450-litre Holstein copper pot still called Angel, set out to capture the city's character in a bottle. Master Distiller Dave Rigby had a clear brief: light on citrus, creamy mouthfeel, distinctly Mancunian. His solution was oats — a Northern English staple — and vanilla, added to a base of eleven botanicals that includes almonds, cardamom, cinnamon and black pepper. The result is a gin unlike anything from London or the Home Counties.
Tasting
Eleven botanicals distilled in Angel, the 450-litre still. The nose is juniper-heavy with oats and vanilla bringing an unexpected milky, buttery sweetness — cardamom lifts it, orange zings with fresh fruit. On the palate, that milky sweetness comes through: vanilla provides an icing-sugar dusting before cardamom steps in with a curried warmth, almonds add nutty depth, coriander and cinnamon round out the spice. The deliberate absence of dominant citrus lets the oats' creamy mouthfeel shine — this is a gin that feels different in the mouth. The finish delivers a big peppery kick from black pepper, warming and lingering.
The Bottom Line
Manchester Three Rivers earns a 7 for genuine regional character and the courage to put oats in a gin. Dave Rigby did not want to make another citrus-forward London Dry; he wanted to make a Manchester gin, and that meant cream, warmth and a peppery kick. Best with Fever-Tree Indian tonic, a cherry or a sprig of rosemary. Three rivers, eleven botanicals, one still called Angel — a gin that knows exactly where it comes from.
