First Taste: William Grant's Hendrick's Gin Explores Stone Fruit Flavors in Bottling

William Grant & Sons boasts a strong scotch whisky stable that includes brands like Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Grant’s, and Monkey Shoulder, but it also produces a Scottish gin. Hendrick’s was launched in 1999 with Lesley Gracie, a scientist who joined William Grant’s whisky division 12 years earlier, as master distiller. It’s made at a distillery that’s right up the road from Girvan Distillery, the Lowlands-based workhorse that produces grain parcels for William Grant’s blended scotches.

Hendrick’s house style is relatively straightforward: it’s made from a proprietary blend of at least 11 botanicals, with an extra cucumber and rose petal infusion, using both a traditional copper pot still and a Carter Head still, a relatively rare type of pot still designed by John Carter, an apprentice of Aeneas Coffey, for use in gin distilling. Occasionally, however, Gracie will make tweaks to the recipe, resulting in creations that shift the gin’s usual character in a different direction by adding new and exciting notes. Her newest creation, Grand Cabaret, is one such example.

Hendrick’s Grand Cabaret aims to evoke the essence of eaux de vies, which are fruit spirits and liqueurs that were popular in the 20th century. Specifically, it serves as an exploration of the stone fruit flavors commonly found in peach schnapps. It was made using Hendrick’s 11-botanical gin recipe as a base; the exact source of the extra stone fruit flavors is being kept a secret, but Hendrick’s confirmed that new botanicals have been added to the mix. The final product is bottled at 43.4% ABV, just a touch lower than the flagship gin’s 44%.

Grand Cabaret is offered as a limited edition expression as part of the label’s ongoing Cabinet of Curiosities series. It’s available at retailers nationwide and online, with a suggested retail price of $40.

How Does Hendrick’s Grand Cabaret Taste?

We were given an opportunity to taste Grand Cabaret ahead of its official launch date. Here are our thoughts:

Hendrick’s Grand Cabaret Gin

Though both look the same in the glass, the difference between Hendrick’s flagship and Grand Cabaret is immediately apparent once you nose them. Grand Cabaret is very fruit-forward on the nose, with peaches, apricot preserves, grapes, cranberries, and a touch of juniper in the background. The palate is surprisingly nimble in comparison but is also softer, more rounded, and less spicy than the original, with flavors of dried berries, more juniper, sunflower seeds, flower petals, and plum pit. Stone fruits return for a medium-length finish that is both smooth and balanced.

Overall, Grand Cabaret is more like a cousin than a sibling to Hendrick’s gin. There are clearly differences between the two, but there’s enough of a resemblance here for those who look hard enough. Grand Cabaret drinks well on its own, but it's certainly well suited for cocktails—perhaps in a Peach Martini or as a replacement for schnapps in a riff on a Fuzzy Navel. As for its pairability with whisky? Try it in a Suffering Bastard with a scotch that also has a fruity profile for a refreshing sipper.