The House Gin by The House Collective is an exclusive, limited-edition gin that expresses the provenance of its properties’ home cities.
The next time you order a “house pour” at any The House Collective by Swire Hotels property, you may get a pleasant surprise. Rather than the usual cheap plonk, your next pour of gin at Hong Kong’s The Upper House, The Temple House in Chengdu, and The Middle House in Shanghai could just be their newly-released The House Gin.
Collaboratively created by the bar teams from the three existing The House Collective hotels as well as the now-defunct The Opposite House in Beijing, The House Gin was distilled at Yunnan-based Youyun Distilling. This small-batch, limited-edition creation is crafted from a selection of premium Chinese botanicals, each component ingredient carefully picked to showcase the unique provenance of The House Collective’s home cities.
There’s the floral bitterness of chrysanthemum from Hong Kong, for example, as well as zesty lemon peel from Chengdu, China’s “lemon capital”. Shanghai’s official flower, the white magnolia, contributes a creamy floral sweetness, and finally you have Beijing cedar, offering an incense-like woodiness to the mix. Together The House Gin is a contemporary-style gin that eschews the usual juniper sharpness of London Dry gins in favour of fresh florals, delicate herbaceous notes, and a touch of lively citrus for a complex yet balanced profile.
It’s not spicy like Suntory SUI or ridiculously floral like Hendrick’s Flora Adora. It makes a good sipping gin, but comes into its own in a Martini.
Swire Hotels unveiled The House Gin here in Singapore at an invite-only event in Singapore last month, with guest shifts by Gail Lanorias of Hong Kong’s Salisterra at The Upper House, Matthew Hall of Shanghai’s Café Gray Deluxe at The Middle House, and Nick Lappen of Chengdu’s Jing at The Temple House, at Humpback, Live Twice and Gibson.
Unfortunately there’s little chance to taste this in Singapore. But if you’re visiting The Upper House in Hong Kong, The Temple House in Chengdu, or The Middle House in Shanghai any time soon, be sure to ask to try this exclusive limited edition gin before it all sells out.
Just note: it’s not on the house.
[Photo credits: Joel Lim Photography]
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