The intense program requires an absolute understanding of the gin category,. But beyond that, competitors must be excellent hosts, technically skilled bartenders, creative mixologists and engaging personalities.

Any bartender, anywhere, can enter the Gin Connoisseur Program. It doesn’t matter which gin your bar pours or whether G’Vine Gin is available in your country. Every gin-loving bartender has an equal chance of making it to the World Finals in Cognac, France in June 2012.

Besides that trip to Cognac, additional prizes include:

- An intercontinental bar tour to a couple of the spirits industry’s biggest events: Tales of the Cocktail and Bar Convent Berlin
- A year’s supply of G’Vine Gin for your bar
- Platinum vine flower pin
- $3,000 and recognition as the finest gin bartender on the planet

More details –

All entrants must complete an online exam at www.legcp.fr on or before May 1, 2012.

Bartenders who can attend a preliminary contest hosted in the UK, Scotland, France, Spain, Canada & the USA throughout the spring can qualify for the World Finals in Cognac in June. The preliminaries will begin with a seminar – How the Gin Business Works (e.g. sales figures, calculating margins, etc.) – and the challenges include creative mixology and blind nosing and tasting.

Bartenders who can’t attend a preliminary contest can enter as wild cards by completing the same online exams but making an Xtranormal cartoon video using the theme “French Classics.” (An example.)

World Finalists will be announced May 15, 2012.

Best of luck to all competitors, and for more info or to sign up, visit http://www.legcp.fr/.

Also, cocktails. Guests enjoyed Hendrick’s cocktails created by Brand Ambassador Jim Ryan. Hendrick’s Gin is comprised of 11 botanicals, including the very distinct infusions of cucumber and rose petals, which gives it great application in cocktails. Like the fine libations detailed below.

Alaskan Sour

1 ½ oz Hendrick’s Gin
¾ oz Yellow Chartreuse
½ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz Lemon Juice
¼ oz Egg White
2 dashes Regan’s Orange

Shake all ingredients without ice. Add ice and shake again. Double strain into a cocktail glass and twist a lemon peel over the top.

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High Tea for One

2 oz Hendrick’s Gin
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Caraway simple syrup*
½ oz Clementine Juice
1 barspoon marmalade
2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

*to make: place 16 oz of caraway seeds into the pot as you make a simple syrup with 1 part water to 1 part sugar and let sit for 2 hours. Strain and chill. Serve in teacup.

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Will ‘o the Wisp

2 oz Hendrick’s Gin
1 oz Lambic Peche Beer/Tarragon simple syrup*
¼ oz Green Chartreuse
¾ oz fresh lemon juice
Soda Water
Tarragon sprig

Combine first 3 ingredients in a mixing glass, add ice and shake well. Strain into an iced collins glass and top with soda. Garnish with a tarragon sprig.

*To make: 1 part white sugar, 2 parts lambic peche beer and tarragon.  Heat until the sugar dissolves and tarragon steeps into the syrup. Cool and keep cold.

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Snow Miser’s Cooler

1 ½ oz Hendrick’s Gin
½ oz St. Germain
¾ oz Lime Juice
¼ oz Simple Syrup
1 ½ oz Soda Water
1 dash Lavender/Spice Bitter
Cucumber Spear

Shake all ingredients excluding soda water and cucumber spear. Strain into an iced collins glass and top with soda. Garnish with cucumber spear.

Upon request for something a bit different, he made me a Perfect Ten, which is simply Tanqueray Ten shaken with a lemon peel, and then strained into a cocktail glass. When asked why he shook the gin instead of stirring it, he mentioned that stirring wasn’t necessary when it’s just gin. But that if he were making a martini with vermouth, he’d stir it.

Winchester was in town in support of Tanqueray’s recently-launched “Tonight We Tanqueray” campaign, which suggests Tanqueray Gin as one’s first drink when preparing for the night. Sounds okay to me.

Some highlights -

Winchester said he got the brand ambassador gig because he’s tall and thin like the Tanqueray Ten bottle. But that down the road, this job may make him look more like the original Tanqueray’s short, squat bottle.

Winchester mentioned that he loves the gin category but is wary of new companies creating “gin” that eschews proper distillation techniques and bucks traditional flavor profiles – essentially creating grain spirits with flavors like roses and cardamom.

Bartenders at the event generally liked Tanqueray’s big, bold, juniper-forward character and agreed that softer gins get lost in a Negroni.

Spring 44 Gin is crystal clear, and on the nose it has clean aromas of juniper, lime, sage, wheat and spice. The entrance is cool and creamy on the palate, with mint, spice, flowers and a mild dose of juniper. It finishes long with more spice and notes of minerals, herbs and citrus peels. Lots of flavor in this one.

Though Spring44 Gin packs a fair amount of juniper, it’s not your typical London Dry style of gin. The other botanicals – including flowery lavender, jasmine and citrus – play a very prominent role, making it closer to a New Western style gin, like Aviation, Roxor Gin or the also-from-Colorado Leopold’s Gin.

Gin’s a fairly divisive category, with many drinkers claiming to hate its strong “pine cone” flavors. Spring44 might woo some holdouts to the gin category with its easy-drinking flavor profile that’s devoid of harsh juniper notes. That said, Spring44 isn’t the best choice for traditional gin cocktails, but it works great in fruit-forward drinks. Muddle some berries, throw in a few sprigs of mint or sage, and Spring44 makes a lovely cocktail.

Stats:
- 40% Alcohol by Volume
- $30

Like that? Drink this:
- Bluecoat Gin Review
- Death’s Door Gin Review
- Oxley Gin Cocktail Recipes

That said, The Fitzgerald is essentially a gin sour (sans optional egg white) with bitters. Gin, lemon juice and sugar combine to form a nice drink on their own, but bitters can turn a good drink into a great drink. In this case, a couple dashes of Angostura bitters lend depth and roundness to the Fitzgerald.

The Fitzgerald Cocktail

1.5 oz dry gin
0.75 oz lemon juice
0.75 oz simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, or strain over fresh ice into a rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon peel.

You can experiment with your gins here per your taste preferences. I like a nice London Dry like Beefeater or Broker’s, but the cocktail also works well with some New American offerings like Bluecoat and Aviation.

The Fitzgerald is a good drink for those new to gin. It’s a well-composed cocktail that lets the gin shine, but thanks to the citrus, sugar and bitters, it’s not so gin-forward as to overwhelm the other flavors. I like to mix it up for company, as it’s easy to make and typically a fan favorite, even for drinkers who claim to be wary of gin.

Like that? Drink this:
- Jasmine Cocktail Recipe
- Pink Gin Cocktail Recipe

Photo: 12 Bottle Bar

New Artisan Spirits is headed by former Coca-Cola executive Don Short and Robert Del Grande, a chef who also holds a degree in biochemistry. Del Grande used that science expertise and cooking talent to create the 12 botanical blend of ROXOR Artisan Gin. He balanced juniper with fresh citrus peels and included other traditional botanicals like coriander and orris root. From there, we’ve got some surprises like Texas pecans, cocoa nibs, sarsaparilla and cinnamon.

After Del Grande perfected his ROXOR Gin recipe, San Luis Spirits began producing the gin in small copper stills, using the same aquifer water used to make Dripping Springs Vodka.

The result is a western-style gin that’s light on juniper and heavy on bright citrus and coriander spice. Those Texas pecans show up toward the finish and add some lushness to the spirit. If you’re loyal to London Dry style gins, ROXOR probably isn’t for you. But it is a very flavorful gin that might appeal to many turned off by brash juniper. Try it in cocktails or simply pour some over ice and drop in a grapefruit peel; this is an easy-drinking gin.

For now, ROXOR is only available in Texas.

Stats:
- 45% Alcohol by Volume
- $35

Like that? Drink this:
- Bluecoat Gin Review
- Death’s Door Gin Review
- Citadelle Gin Review

A mixture of gin and fresh juices, this cocktail was dreamt up by wine and spirits expert Steve Olson and Tom Nichol while they were traveling together in Spain. The citrus highlights different notes in the gin, while the syrup balances out the cocktail with a bit of sweetness. Perfect for a summer evening, this drink is as inspired as they come.

The Tom Nichol Cocktail

1 1/4 oz Tanqueray No. Ten Gin
1/4 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/4 oz Orange Juice
1/4 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Chamomile Simple Syrup

In a shaker filled with ice, add all juices, syrup and Tanqueray No. Ten Gin. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Click for more gin cocktails.

Oxley 75

1 ½ ounces OXLEY Gin
2 tsp superfine sugar
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
4 ounces chilled Prosecco

Shake gin, sugar and lemon juice with ice. Pour into a champagne flute and top with Prosecco.

Grapefruit Collins

2 ounces OXLEY Gin
½ ounce lemon juice
½ ounce of simple syrup
1 ounce fresh pink or white grapefruit juice
2-3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Club soda

Shake all ingredients except soda with ice, then pour into a highball glass over fresh ice. Top with club soda and garnish with a grapefruit wedge.

Blackberry Gin Fizz

2 ounces OXLEY Gin
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
2-3 blackberries
Club soda

Muddle blackberries in a shaker. Add gin and lemon juice, then shake with ice. Pour into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Top with club soda and garnish with a blackberry.

Like that? Drink this:
- The Last Word
- Gintervention

Distilled in small batches from local red winter wheat, Death’s Door Gin is unique as far as gins go, in that it’s comprised of just three botanicals – juniper berries, coriander and fennel seeds. And they’re all organic, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Death’s Door Gin has a light aroma of juniper that’s somewhat muted by an initial hit of alcohol. Some fennel notes are present as well, folded neatly into the background. Take a sip and taste bright juniper, dry citrus and tons of spice. It’s really peppery on the tongue, but the spice moves toward a cooling hit of mint. Coriander comes through noticeably, with the fennel mostly taking a backseat. It finishes long and dry with more of that spicy bite.

Death’s Door Gin is a good example of what happens when you don’t muddle a gin’s flavors with 10-15 botanicals. It’s clean and very flavor-forward. Nicely done, Wisconsin. You’re now on our radar for more than just beer and cheese.

Stats:
- 47% Alcohol by Volume
- $30

Like that? Drink this:
- Beefeater 24 Gin Review
- Bluecoat Gin Review
- Citadelle Gin Review

If the drink is simply too much to handle, try changing the ratios to two parts gin, one part vermouth and one part Green Chartreuse.

Bijou Cocktail

1 oz London Dry Gin
1 oz Green Chartreuse
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
1 dash Orange Bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice until cold, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon peel or a luxardo cherry.

If you like that, try the very similar Tailspin Cocktail, which subs Campari for the orange bitters, or the Alaskan, which combines gin with Yellow Chartreuse and orange bitters.