NH distillery's local gin a strange brew

Tamworth Apiary Gin

Customers who come across Apiary Gin on the shelves of their favorite spirits shop may be excused for thinking they've instead spotted one of those decorative bottles of oil stuffed with fruits, veggies and herbs.

Apiary Gin, from Tamworth Distilling in New Hampshire, is chock full of things, a strange brew of botanicals along with a bunch of floating goodies.

The product reflects a lot of the flora of the Tamworth region, incorporating the obligatory juniper berries of gin with elements of red clover blossoms, honey, linden flowers, pine rosin, poplar buds and rosin.

This isn't the only offbeat product from Tamworth. To name just two others, there are Sweet Lips, a colonial-style cherry bounce made from Martha Washington's favorite recipe -- a house-made rye whiskey base, stored in oak with cherries, apple brandy and neutral spirits for infusing, then a touch of Tahitian vanilla and a distillate of smoked cardamom; and, Blueberry Fizz, a fermented offering made from blueberry pomace left over from the distillery's Art in the Age Black Trumpet Blueberry Cordial that combines plump, alcohol-rich berries with fresh-pressed local apple juice, and unaged apple brandy.

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