This latest “flavoured” initiative does beg the question: when is a botanical a flavour or, indeed, a flavour a botanical? The easy answer is that the botanicals are distilled into the gin, and it is the botanical mix, which must include Juniper, that gives the different brands of gin their USP or particular DNA, while the flavour, as is the case with Crisp Cucumber, is added after distilling. 

When it comes to cucumber and gin Hendrick’s is, of course, the forerunner and is famed for its infusions of rose petals as well as cucumber and it comes in at a very respectable 41.4% abv. It’s extremely unlikely that Hendrick’s growth path will be halted by the launch of Gordon’s Crisp Cucumber, but one thing is for sure – Diageo has noted that Gordon’s downward spiral has been halted, and that the multinational has spied a gap for a flavour which is not “a mimic of flavoured vodkas”. Oh really! 

Furthermore, Diageo is certain that Gordon’s Crisp Cucumber will make the perfect and refreshing start to an evening – that is if you live in the UK where its debut is already underway, or Greece, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands where it is currently being rolled out. So what does it taste like? Suffice it to say I am not a fan – but then I love cucumber and, when its 40% abv or above, Gordon’s too.