Saturday is the Kentucky Derby. And even though we’ve never been to the actual race, we never pass up the opportunity to celebrate an event with a signature cocktail.
But we just can’t tolerate the Mint Julep. If we wanted to drink something with those flavors, we’d save $10 and down a bottle of Scope instead.
So we set out to find a Kentucky Derby-worthy cocktail that didn’t taste like we just ate one of the Doublemint Twins. And Hendrick’s succeeded big time.
This delightfully complex small-batch gin has a lot of the same botanical notes of other premium gins, but unlike much of the competition, Hendrick’s is incredibly smooth and easy to drink. In large part that’s due to the incorporation of rose petal and cucumber after the regular distillation process, which creates a lighter character that perfectly complements cocktails of extraordinary diversity.
Our favorite new Derby Day cocktail is now the Cucumber Collins (recipe below). Light, subtly sweet and addictively refreshing, we’re going to be drinking this long after Saturday.
And if we win at the races, we just might fill our swimming pool with Hendrick’s. It’ll taste fantastic, plus greatly reduce the elapsed time between jumping in and skinny dipping.
$36.99 MSRP, 750ml
www.hendricksgin.com
Cucumber Collins Recipe
Ingredients:
1-1/2 oz Hendrick’s Gin
1 English Seedless Cucumber
4 oz Simple Syrup
3 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
Directions:
To make cucumber puree: Blend 1 English Seedless Cucumber with 3 oz fresh lemon juice and 4 oz simple syrup.
To make cocktail: Combine 1-1/2 oz Hendrick’s Gin and cucumber puree. Blend together, strain and serve chilled.
Filling swimming pool:
Optional.
