Four Pillars Christmas Gin

This is a gin born from love, family and tradition. Every year, Four Pillars Co-founder Cameron Mackenzie recreates his late mum Wilma's iconic 1968 Australian Women's Weekly Christmas pudding recipe — not to eat, but to distill. All the ingredients that make a perfect Christmas pud — mixed peel, oranges, dried fruit, spices — go into the still alongside classic gin botanicals, creating a spirit that smells like gin and tastes like Christmas. The resulting liquid is then aged for an entire year in 100-year-old Muscat barrels, and blended with gin that's been resting in 125-year-old ex-William Grant Scotch whisky barrels that previously stored Rutherglen Muscat for 80 years. A final splash of Rutherglen Classic Muscat and the distillery's own muscat aged in Pedro Ximenez Sherry casks rounds out the palate with extraordinary depth and richness. Released once a year with a new label artwork each vintage, this cult-classic gin sells out fast.

A beautiful tawny amber in the glass — reminiscent of a fine Scotch or aged sherry. The nose is intoxicating: Christmas pudding, orange peel, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and dried fruit, underpinned by piney juniper that evokes the scent of a fresh Christmas tree. On the palate, it's rich, full-bodied and silky, with waves of plum pudding, dried figs, caramel and vanilla, wrapped around a classic Four Pillars citrus-juniper core. The barrel ageing brings a warm, toasty oakiness, while the Muscat adds a subtle sweetness and extraordinary depth that lingers long after each sip. The finish is long, warming and spice-driven, with festive dried fruit and a gentle toffee sweetness that makes you feel like you're sitting by the fire on Christmas morning — even in the middle of an Australian summer.