Hendrick’s Midsummer Solstice is flower power in a bottle

The Hendrick’s Midsummer Solstice, a seasonal limited-edition release from Hendrick’s Gin, is now available in Singapore’s domestic market.

Midsummer may be long over in Europe, but perhaps the perpetual summer here in Singapore – complete with blazing sunshine punctuated with bouts of heavy thunderstorms – have prompted Hendrick’s Gin to announce the domestic availability of its limited-edition, seasonal release Hendrick’s Midsummer Solstice.

Hendrick’s, of course, is best known for its original Hendrick’s Gin. That gin – made with eleven different botanicals (but of which cucumber and rose feature particularly prominently) – is largely responsible for helping spark a gin revolution in this part of the world; its quirky brand positioning celebrates the odd, including commemorating World Cucumber Day.

But Hendrick’s Midsummer Solstice is made rather differently. It’s the first gin to come from Hendrick’s master distiller Lesley Gracie’s “Cabinet of Curiosities”, a special trove within the gin distillery – aptly named Hendrick’s Gin Palace – where she stores her wildly bizarre experiments under lock and key. And while she remains tight-lipped over what curious combination of botanicals she’s thrown into this witch’s brew, she does reveal that she was particularly inspired by midsummer for this gin.

“A deeply rooted respect for nature and its most beautiful creations excited me to capture the aromas and flavours of a midsummer day and I am truly enamored over this first release from the Cabinet of Curiosities,” Gracie shared. “Midsummer Solstice is the latest expression in what will be a long line of innovations from Hendrick’s and I’m very much looking forward to not to not only creating new and avant-garde expressions at the Gin Palace, but also sharing them with the world.”

Unsurprisingly, the Hendrick’s Midsummer Solstice is a taste of summer in a bottle. Expect an explosion of flowers and herbs on both nose and palate – we pick out lavender, geranium, and anise – with an underlying sweetness from summer berries such as blueberries and raspberries. But we can’t be certain, and Gracie isn’t saying.

“We’re thrilled to share this enchantingly floral incarnation of Hendrick’s Gin with the region and we look forward to introducing more innovations in the near future. We hope to bring some summer cheer with Midsummer Solstice as we toast to new beginnings in the months ahead,” shared Charmaine Thio, Regional Brand Ambassador for Hendrick’s Gin Southeast Asia.

“Just like a holiday romance,  Midsummer Solstice is a poetic expression of temporality; we hope you get to taste the beauty of summer’s blooms before it fades away,” Thio added.

Previously available in travel retail earlier this year, the Midsummer Solstice will go into wider domestic distribution. It can be purchased online via the William Grant & Sons 1887 Bar on GrabMart and LazMall, as well as iShopChangi.com. Hendrick’s will also be partnering a number of bars to create exclusive cocktails using the Midsummer Solstice available from end-November, including some of our favourite cocktail bars such as Ah Sam Cold Drink Stall, ATLAS, IB HQ Singapore, Revamp Bar & Kitchen, and Shin Gi Tai.