Animus Distillery Ananas Gin 2021 500ml

50% ABV. Inspired by Luke Jacques’s mild obsession with Tiki cocktails and questionable lounge music, here we have the second release of the sublime Animus Ananas Gin. And what an epic it is. As you might expect, fresh pineapple accounts for the lion's share of the botanical load, with ginger, turmeric and galangal brought in for a spicy counterpoint to the fruit's sweet aromatics. For complexity there’s kaffir lime, pineapple sage, lemon verbena, lemon myrtle and lemon balm—all picked and prepared on the day of production—and ground sesame seeds to enhance the Gin’s oily, textural mouthfeel. The first release under Animus' Test Pressings label lasted not much longer that the time taken to listen to one of Luke Jacques' infamous lounge LPs. The tiny run of pineapple-infused Gin proved to be as popular in the market as it was back home in the Kyneton distillery and bar, and so this year the Animus team has gone to town. For the encore they’ve both refined the recipe and given us a little more Ananas Gin to play with. Far from being a case of 'second album syndrome', the intensity and quality of the spirit has also followed suit. So, what has changed? This year’s version has had a full 12 months steeping and maturing, with the fresh pineapple rotated more frequently, conferring greater vibrancy while keeping the flavours cleaner and spicier. Test Pressing maestro, distiller Sarah Wallace has also steeped the pineapple rinds for longer to enhance the intensity, and by dialling the ABV to 50% (from 44.8 %), Animus has put their trademark mouthfeel front and centre as well as anchoring those key citrus notes. And finally in its gradual move to becoming part of the core range, they’ve line-priced Ananas with the other 500ml offerings.