Monkey 47 is a gin unlike any other. It consists of 47 different botanicals, including angelica root, acacia flowers, bramble leaves, lingonberries and spruce shoots all sourced from the Black Forest as well as juniper berries from the Mediterranean sea (which are known to be more aromatic as they receive more sun than their Tuscan and German counterparts), each ingredient carefully chosen to complement the others.
Yauatcha worked with Monkey 47 to celebrate the Year of the Monkey. As part of this collaboration, the bar team designed an exclusive Monkey 47 gin cocktail flight that paired with each of the Chinese New Year menu courses while the pastry kitchen created a series of six macarons inspired by the gin’s different botanicals.
We spoke to Alexander Stein, founder of Black Forest Distillers, about his unique gin and the inspiration behind it.
We hear that you’ve recently completed your new distillery in the Black Forest. Why is this location important to you?
Schwarzwald is where it all began. Right from the outset our plan was to bring the production of Monkey 47 back home to its place of origin. Several years ago we bought an old farm nestled in a collection of farmsteads known as 24 Höfe located in the northern part of the Black Forest. As of December 2015 (and after two years of reconstruction), we are pleased to call the Wild Monkey Distillery our new home.
The choice of location was a deliberate one. Nowhere else in the world will you find the wealth of distilling expertise and centuries of experience that there is in Southern Germany. This is where the world’s most renowned distillers work, and where traditional coppersmiths build the best distilleries. Access to fresh ingredients of the highest quality is virtually unlimited, and the Black Forest water sourced from deep sandstone springs is one of the softest and mildest waters in Europe. Home is where your heart is…
Why did you decide to move into a new distillery?
Our desire to build a new distillery is more of a romantic nature. It’s not so much about enhancing capacity – quite the contrary as we are downsizing – it’s about a constant thrive for quality while also creating an environment that allows us to better share insights into the way we work.
Simply put: we wanted to create some sort of Cathedral of Distillation. Together with the famous coppersmith Arnold Holstein, we developed a one-of-a-kind distilling apparatus. Entirely handmade, its development and production took more than two years in accordance with parameters set in terms of quality and experience.
In keeping with the Swabian principle of less is more, the size of the ‘still was not increased – on the contrary, it was reduced from 150 to 100 litres in order to further optimise the surface ratio of copper and the macerate. The basic methods however remain the same, and so along with the classic techniques of maceration and distillation, the principle of percolation (steam extraction) is still used, though in a slightly different manner.
The repositioning of the baskets in connection with the completely redeveloped distilling apparatus enables us to focus on isolating just the right amounts of rather volatile aromas, bringing them individually to the fore and carefully combining them to produce the perfect blend that characterises the harmonious taste of Monkey 47.
And, last but not least, and to be perfectly honest: how often do you get the opportunity to build your own distillery?
