I’ve been a long time fan boy of Red Door Gin. And when I say ‘fan boy’ I mean that I may as well have posters of them stuck up on my bedroom walls! Ever since its release in the summer of 2018, Red Door Gin has been an ever present on my gin shelf.... Continue Reading →
I was recently stood in my kitchen staring at a message in a bottle. Though this was a very different kind of ‘SOS’ altogether... Rather than a cry for help, this was actually the latest gin drop to arrive from north of the border; SOS Gin, Scotland’s Other Spirit. I was recently very fortunate to... Continue Reading →
I don’t speak Flemish. And on reflection, it was perhaps a risky move on my part. But there we were, stood on a Belgian canal bridge, with a decision to make and not much time to act. So we did the only thing we could...we made a run for it! Rewinding slightly, and it was... Continue Reading →
I saw his face drop, to punctuate an awkward silence, as soon as the words had passed my lips. It was a look that signaled both annoyance and despair, a difficult balance to strike but in this case masterfully executed. But you know what stung the most...the genuine sense of disappointment. Ouch! So what had... Continue Reading →
So there I was. 10 years old and I’m sat there in the back of an aging Ford Mondeo with Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and Simply Red frontman Mick Hucknall... We’d been in the car for around 10 hours, with plenty more road left ahead of us, but the guys were diligently taking it in... Continue Reading →
I knew that I had made a terrible mistake when I realised that my eyeballs had started to sweat... Of course, years later, my wife would try to have me believe that the beads of precipitation streaming down my cheeks at an alarming rate were actually tears. I’ll leave you to be the judge of... Continue Reading →
I remember there being a time that I was only really aware of there being one ‘6 O’clock’ in the day... And let me assure you that it was very much the ‘6 O’clock’ that arrives later in the day, strategically placed within the window of ‘Happy Hour’! A ‘Happy Hour’ that was ironically partly... Continue Reading →
Quite how we weren’t both covered in each other’s vomit I have no idea! Wait. That’s a weird way to start...Let me go back a bit. I guess I’ve always had something of an adventurous spirit, with a penchant for exploring the more usual and a persuasion for activities of the adrenaline inducing kind. And... Continue Reading →
‘For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Tom - Matt’s bigger, little brother!’...cue laughter. Dammit. I’ve got to hand it to him, that was a strong first line and a rapturous reaction. The sort of opening gambit that would ensure his audience would pretty soon be eating out of his hands, willing him... Continue Reading →
We were in close proximity, and engaged in a standoff that had been waged more times than I cared to remember. And as the war of words continued, locked in a battle of who could hold their nerve the longest, I knew I was going to lose my bottle... And I mean that in the... Continue Reading →
The Gin Shelf 
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