Featured Gin: Another Hendrick's
Hendrick's has been making gin at their Gin Palace in Girvan, Scotland since 1999, and in that time they have released a small number of expressions beyond the original. Another Hendrick's is the first new permanent addition to their lineup in nine years. That is not a marketing detail. It is context for understanding how seriously Lesley Gracie, Hendrick's master distiller, approached this one.
At Southside Shake, we carry bottles because they have something worth tasting and a story worth telling. Another Hendrick's has both.
The Story Behind the Bottle
Another Hendrick's begins where the original does: with the eleven botanicals that define the house style, including juniper, coriander, elderflower, rose petal, and cucumber. Gracie then introduces two new elements, neither of which goes through the still. Cacao beans are extracted separately, and orange blossom essential oils are drawn out and infused directly into the finished spirit, the same technique Hendrick's uses for its rose and cucumber.
This matters because distillation changes things. Heat transforms botanical compounds, often softening them or shifting their character. By infusing post-distillation, Gracie preserves the raw quality of the cacao and the freshness of the orange blossom in a way that distilling them would not. What you get in the glass is a truer, more intact version of those two ingredients sitting alongside an already well-built gin.
The bottle reflects the shift. Where the original Hendrick's arrives in dark glass, Another Hendrick's comes in white ceramic. Same silhouette, completely different presence.
In the Glass
On the nose, orange blossom leads clearly. It reads closer to neroli than to citrus fruit, which is to say it is floral and slightly waxy rather than bright and acidic. The cacao sits underneath it, adding a warmth that you would not necessarily associate with gin. There is a nuttiness there, and something close to hazelnut, that gives the whole nose a richness without heaviness.
The palate follows through. Juniper is present and doing its job, grounded and green. Cucumber and coriander carry the classic Hendrick's character you would recognize. Then the cacao builds, smooth and rounded, adding a depth that extends the mid-palate considerably. The orange blossom lifts the finish and keeps it from feeling heavy. The whole experience is longer than you expect and more layered than most gins at this price point.
This is not a dessert gin. The sweetness is restrained. What Another Hendrick's offers is complexity, built from ingredients that genuinely do something unusual together.
The Perfect Serve
A highball glass packed with ice, 50ml of Another Hendrick's, and a well-made tonic. Garnish with cucumber, which connects back to the gin's botanical core and keeps the serve clean. If you want to draw out the orange blossom, a small strip of expressed orange peel alongside the cucumber works well.
The goal with this serve is to let the gin lead. A quality tonic with enough bitterness to frame the florals and the cacao is what you are looking for. Avoid anything too sweet.
Why It Belongs on New Brunswick's Largest Gin List
Nine years between permanent releases is a long time in an industry that moves quickly. Another Hendrick's is the kind of bottle that justifies that pace. It does not chase a trend or lean on novelty. It applies a specific, thoughtful technique to two botanicals that most distillers would not think to pair, and it arrives at something genuinely worth your attention.
We carry it because it earns its place. We recommend it because it delivers on what a gin at this level should do.
Come Find Us in Downtown Fredericton
Southside Shake is located inside the Hilton Garden Inn Fredericton Downtown on Queen Street. If you are looking for a craft cocktail bar with a gin list built around discovery, this is where to come. Bartenders who know the bottles, gin flights made to order, and a rotating featured gin that always gives you a reason to try something new.