It's Time to Get Drunk on Pud with Nan: Four Pillars' Supremely Festive 2023 Christmas Gin Is Here
Nothing says festive drinks like sipping a gin distilled with Christmas puddings and spicy botanicals, which the Australian favourites have been doing for eight years.
Realising that Christmas is almost upon us again each year can happen in various ways. You might start hearing jolly tunes echoing in shopping centres. Those over-eager neighbours could've put their decorations up already. You may just notice that Halloween is over so festive season has begun. Or, your calendar might be filling up with end-of-year shindigs. Here's another: the release of Four Pillars' annual Christmas Gin, aka the one Christmas treat that no one ever minds arriving early.
The latest iteration of the Healesville distillery's seasonal sip has hit shelves for the year. As always, it's the delicious result of a yearly tradition that sees a bunch of Christmas puddings handmade with distiller Cameron Mackenzie's mother's recipe — the 1968 Australian Women's Weekly recipe, in fact — and distilled with various festive botanicals to create a sought-after tipple that pretty much screams December 25.
The flavours of an Aussie Christmas are captured in notes of cinnamon, star anise, juniper, coriander and angelica. The Christmas gin is then blended with some earlier gin that's been carefully ageing in 80-year-old muscat barrels. It's all finished with a hit of Rutherglen muscat for a bit of added richness and complexity.
Each year, a new unique label is chosen to wrap up this Christmas creation, setting out to evoke that same festive spirit. The 2023's bottle design is the work of artist Jo White, who has combined nine appropriately themed artworks into the one label.
The distillers always recommend that you sip the limited-edition gin neat; mix it with ginger ale, lime and bitters; or whip up a pavlova punch with the festive gin, passionfruit, muscat, berries and your choice of sparkling.
As exciting as the gin is, it often has company — and 2023 is no exception. So, you can splash a bit of it on your own Christmas pudding, or or pair it with Four Pillars' own Christmas gin puddings. They come made with with gin-steamed oranges and a dash of Christmas Gin (naturally), and they're also available to buy now.
This year, there's a gin ham glaze, too, which is again made with gin-steamed oranges (plus dijon mustard, sugar, salt and some spices).
If you want to nab a bottle of Christmas Gin — or any of the above — you can hop online. Alternatively, stop by the Four Pillars HQ in Healesville, Victoria or the brand's Surry Hills shop in Sydney. Bottles are $100 a pop and would make stellar Chrissy pressies, if you're already thinking about that. The pudding will cost you $30 and the glaze $10.
Steven Woodburn
Four Pillars Christmas Gin is available to buy online, from the Healesville distillery and Surry Hills shop now.
