Heritage used to mean something; 1. property that is or may be inherited; an inheritance 2. a special or individual possession; an allotted portion. Now it’s a tomato or a beetroot. Well, maybe language does evolve, so I’ve been drinking an heritage gin and tonic.
If you lap up heritage as much as I do G&T the combo to go for is Nicholson gin (1736) and Schweppes tonic (1783). The former is hard to come by so I’m having Bombay Sapphire, a stripling launched in 1987 as a premium gin and now gratifyingly cheap (£16 at Waitrose). The latter is ubiquitous.
I know what I did on 13th October 1990. I went to Sainsbury in Cromwell Road and bought a bottle of Angostura bitters, first made in 1824 by Dr JGB Sieger in Angostura, Venezuela. I didn’t broach it until I was fishing on the River Awe in September 1994. Six of us caught five salmon of which the largest was 14 lbs. Mine was a 6lb grilse caught at 11.30 on a yellow and black tosh with a treble hook.
Now the bitters is on its last legs. The label assures that it does not contain Angostura bark but the last few drops are full of dregs that don’t spoil the taste but look unsightly. So I have bough a replacement, also 200ml, in Waitrose. It cost £10.50 and will last until I am eighty-six if I don’t conk out and use it at the same rate, less than 1 p a week. Rather a bargain as it is 44.7% alc/vol. and comes all the way from Port of Spain, Trinidad. It is still By Appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, although I surmise that her husband is more likely to be partial to a pink gin.
A friend of mine, whom I’m lunching with today as it happens, visited a naval base in the 1990s and asked for a pink gin before lunch. They weren’t able to knock one up and he mentioned this later to the First Sea Lord. On a visit to another naval base there was a pink gin ready on a salver. He asked how they knew he might want one and was told that the First Sea Lord had sent a signal to all ships and shore bases instructing them to provide pink gin(s) if my friend visited. One can only hope that the Royal Navy is able to conduct a war with such efficiency.
Now a tribute to Steve Whitmire who has been with the Muppets since 1978 and has been the voice of Kermit since 1990. He has been fired by Disney – cast aside like an old glove as Miss Piggy might put it.
Interesting post. The history of gin packaging is fascinating and I sometimes wonder if, in another life, I should have followed a different career path….
There’s a story behind Bombay Sapphire’s packaging, which I can’t quite remember off-hand, but I have a feeling that the picture of Queen Vic on the bottle was nicked directly off something else…a biscuit tin or box of chocolates, or something like that.
The original Bombay London Dry was launched in America in 1959. To revive flagging sales, they came up with the idea of a second, zippier “cocktail” gin- Bombay Sapphire- which would appeal to the 90’s party crowd and could be used in all those awful cocktails people were drinking at the time- those sweet, fruity things with the little paper cocktail hats on sticks.
Personally I find Bombay Sapphire a bit too sweet and over-floral, almost sickly, but that’s very much a matter of taste isn’t it? But years ahead of its time, and in many ways the very first “heritage” gin to lead the way in the gin revival.
I am reeling in shock that the Navy were incapable of mixing a Pink Gin. What is this country coming to? Noel Coward would be turning in his grave.
You remind me of the film starring Michael Redgrave and Dirk Bogarde, The Sea Shall Not Have Them. Apparently Noel Coward said “I don’t see why not, everyone else has”.
Noel C was priceless:
Princess Marina (at the Coronation): “Look, there’s the Queen of Tonga”
Noel C: “Oh yes, so it is”
Princess Marina: “But who’s that funny little man by her side, the chap in the top hat?”
Noel C: “That’s her lunch”
He is magnificent as Mr Bridger in The Italian Job (1969 version, natch) in which he sends himself up brilliantly. I wonder he agreed to take the part as he was rather vain I believe.