Kongsgaard

At the centerpiece of our layers of flavour are Danish apples. Among the world’s best, famous for the good taste they achieve due to the climatic conditions. The long warm days in ripening season, are replaced by cool and clear summer nights. Giving the characteristic succulence and well balanced mixture of sweetness and acidity. We distill our juniper separately, to be able to control the aromatics and have it evolve all the way through the pallet, both when drinking it neat or mixed. Sourcing the perfect juniper berry was very important to obtain perfect balance and complexity. We use an organic Bulgarian juniper berry, which are one of the few edible Juniper varieties in the world. Our juniper berries have stronger flavor due to the increased content of hydrocarbons, but milder, finer and sweeter tastes, thanks to a high content of invert sugar. This is due to the more favorable and specific climatic and soil conditions in Bulgaria, than the less flavored and more bitter and coarse taste of the juniper berries growing in Western Europe and USA. Because of its excellent food qualities, the Bulgarian juniper berries are the main source in world top culinary and food recipes and specialties. FOSSILIZED RESIN Amber originates from the resin of ancient and long-extinct trees that grew 50 or even 100 million years ago; long before the first humans walked the earth. We add infusions of amber to give our predominant flavour of juniper an extra kick of pine, while it also contributes with touches of resin and hints of citrus. Up until the middle ages, amber was in very popular demand in most of the world, some of the finest pieces were found washed ashore on the Danish coastlines at the North Sea. Often referred to as “The Gold of the North”, amber was used to make beads and other elements for jewelry and it was also made into figurines and amulets. In particular, the Greeks believed that amber possessed supernatural qualities and called it ’the tears of the gods’; the Romans used amber in truth serums; and in Denmark Vikings used it as payment when trading, here amber was also considered to have healing powers and used for various kinds of ailments. 100 million years in the making from the bottom of the sea, amber has truly been a very unique botanical to work with, and it allows us to get a taste of northern woods long forgotten. We source our apples from small local fruit orchards, situated on little islands in the southern archipelago of Denmark. The climate here ensures apples with a lot of taste according to a slow growing process and many hours of daylight. Furthermore, the terroir here is exceptional; clay soil, many hours of sunshine, wind and salt coming from the sea. We source our soft winter wheat from Picardy in the northern region of France, sometimes referred to as the nation’s breadbasket. The terroir and climate here, bless this area with perfect growing conditions. Soft winter wheat takes its name from the 4 months longer maturation time it gets when sown in autumn and harvested in late summer. Water is another key component in KONGSGAARD GIN. Our water source from the Grande Champagne region of Cognac has been naturally filtered through the underground limestone. It is a thrill to work with Gensac spring water and we treat it with utmost care, as it is very rich in fragile minerals that adds yet another appealing layer to the flavor of our spirit. We will argue that it’s all about the base spirit and nothing stands up to the super soft texture and smooth characteristic, we obtain by using the highest quality wheat and gently diluting it with spring water. It is when we start reworking the 96,1% wheat spirit, one must really be patient. To ensure perfect balance and the highest level of homogeneity, we do a dilution over a period of 2 months. The goal was to have the smoothest possible body to build our gin around, using this particular wheat variety and the world renowned Gensac spring water, we are left with a base that delivers all the way to final bottling. The end result speaks for itself when enjoying KONGSGAARD GIN neat. We distill in an open flame Charentais, situated in the heart of old town Cognac. Copper stills like these have been used for centuries to produce the renowned liquid they are known all around the world for. It is part of a rich history of French craft and Danish perspective coming together; we were inspired, in part, by restaurant boom in Copenhagen, where French-trained Danish chefs have been making serious waves on the international culinary scene. We combine the way of foraging locally-sourced raw produce, and preparing them French style, with that insisting attention to detail and craftsmanship.