Invited Tasting with Langley's No.8, Barbecoa London
Brand: Langley’s No. 8 Style: London Dry Price: £28 Alcohol: 41.7% Rating: 8/10
We were delighted to accept an invitation from Langley’s Gin to sample their wares in Central London. We met up in Barbecoa, Jamie Oliver’s meat restaurant, which has a small but pleasantly functional bar with a good view of St Paul’s.
We were met by Langley’s representative Jonathan, a man who has spent his life involved in the drinks industry from the ground up. We discussed our mutual admiration for the true drinks professional, at which point we were introduced to head barman Spencer, a man who knows and loves his drinks.
Spencer asked how we liked our Martinis – we let him choose, warning him that we are legendary prescriptivists. He made a good classic Martini, stirred, olives, very dry. We met at 4pm, which is a reasonably early kick-off, even for us.
This was a good choice for an early evening Martini. Langley’s is a mid-strength gin, with an amazingly clean recipe. The predominant flavour was salt and pepper – it is an ideal pre-dinner drink, as you are going to be salivating and hungry by the time you’ve had a couple. No rough edges, no bitter after taste – this has to be the gin for people who claim that they don’t like gin.
It was so smooth in fact that I wondered if Spencer had mistakenly let too much ice melt, and asked for my second Martini to be made quickly, no brine, dry as can be. And yes, it was a noticeably stronger martini, but still no bitterness, burning or aftertaste that you would expect from a full strength, almost straight glass of gin.
Personally, it’s a bit light on flavour for me, but we’d certainly pour it for friends who claim that they don’t like gin.
