The Melbourne Gin Company, MGC, is the latest creation by Andrew Marks of Wanderer Wines and Gembrook Hill Vineyard.

Each botanical is distilled separately and then blended to recipe, essentially a winemaker’s approach. Using a copper pot bain-marie alembic still, traditionally used for making perfume, to preserve the delicate nature of the botanicals. You will no doubt recognise the juniper berries and coriander seeds associated with London Dry Gin.

These classic foundations are blended with local botanicals of macadamia, sandalwood, honey lemon myrtle, rosemary, grapefruit and organic navel oranges; as well as exotics of angelica root, orris root and cassia bark.

The final component is the water – rainwater from the Gembrook in the Yarra Ranges, 60km from Melbourne, with a purity that allows the botanicals to shine through. The botanicals combined with a sense of history, and a touch of the exotic, makes MGC a uniquely Melbourne