Gin, Sin and the Xoriguer Distillery in Menorca

All About Menorcan Gin

Menorca threw several surprises my way when I visited. Wild flowers, for one, with fields flush with poppies, violets and periwinkles all dancing like hippies in the sun. There were bronze age settlements for another, and olive oil-soaked cheese, cured lovingly by hand and made from milk gathered freshly that morning.

With Spain, I’d expected tortilla and wine, sunshine and fiestas. And for that, the island did not disappoint.

But most of all, Menorca surprised me with gin.

It wasn’t just that I’d expected more cerveza, rioja and fino sherry, for example.

Nor was it discovering the word “ginlet,” a thimbleful of the neat gin that kickstarts Menorcan men the old fashioned way.

No, it was a combination of the island’s pride and the trip down the rabbit hole of history that truly took me by surprise.

For one, who knew that gin was invented by the Dutch? (And since I had no idea who had invented it, why should any answer surprise me?)

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Pomada: one way to drink Menorcan gin

It’s an island drink made from Menorcan gin and cloudy lemonade

Menorcan gin served with a mint leaf

The History of Gin in Britain

Gin spread to Britain through William and Mary of Orange and apparently British soldiers sipped it on the eve of battle at Antwerp, leading to the phrase  “dutch courage.”

In tropical regions, colonial Brits found that the “tonic” for malaria (bitter quinine with carbonated water) tasted far better with a hefty splash of gin.

Meanwhile, back in Blighty, gin became the drink of the poor, due to strange tax laws leading to “gin joints” and “mother’s ruin” as the phrases we know today. Heck, there were even riots when the government attempted to reign in the gin.

But what has all of that to do with the Balearic island of Menorca?

As the proud owner of the largest natural harbour in Europe, Menorca made a great base. And the British Naval Fleet moved in… 

…bringing with them the habit of gin.

Recommended reading: 27 Ways Food and Travel Go Together (Not just for “Foodies”)

Juniper berries in a basket at a Mahon gin distillery in Menorca

The History of Gin in Menorca

Lord Nelson’s long since gone but, as is often the case with these curious tales of forced cultural exchange, the culture remains.

Menorca, unlike much of the rest of Spain, prides itself on gin.

But, of course, it’s gin with a Menorcan twist. 

Did you know?

Xoriguer takes its name from a windmill built in 1784 (you can still see the picture on the label.) Senor Miguel Pons Justo started the brand in the 1900s, naming it after the mill that used to grind wheat for his family.

Visiting the Xoriguer Gin Distillery, Menorca

The Xoriguer gin distillery overlooks the edge of the harbour that brought the drink to its shores. It showcases bronze pipes that reach up and around and down in the distillery process and offers juniper berries you can hold in your hand (it’s those berries that give the drink both its name and flavour.)

Xoriguer gin uses a grape based spirit infused with juniper berries and a secret, aromatic blend of herbs and “floral botanicals.”

And at the end, after tasting the infamous Mahon Xoriguer gin, you can find new flavours – ranging from chocolate to peppermint to turpentine.

And if you close your eyes (under the influence of said gin) I’ll swear you can taste the flavour of history.

Gin distillery apparatus in Mahon at Xoriguer Distillery

How to visit the Xoriguer Gin Distillery

It’s an easy walk from Mahon’s port to the gin distillery, where you can taste and buy Menorcan gin in more flavours than you can imagine. It’s a modest affair, not the razzamatazz of, say, the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.You’ll need only one to two hours. And a fully lined stomach…

Disclosure – I travelled to Menorca as part of a paid project with iAmbassador and Visit Spain. As ever, as always, all gin consumed by me. Oh, and er, kept the right to write what I like. Hic!

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