Beefeaters Gin Launches Burrough's Reserve Edition 2

Beefeater Gin, a respected name among cocktail-drinkers since James Burrough founded the London-based distillery in 1863, recently celebrated the launch of prized small-batch Burrough's Reserve Edition 2 in an event deep inside the Crown Finish Caves in Brooklyn.

Notably, Burrough distilled his gin — a process by which neutral alcohol is infused with aromatics (most iconically jumpier berries) and then is heated to a boil to capture the flavored steam — in a copper still, Still No. 12 to be exact. 

For Beefeater's newest gin, the Burrough's Reserve Edition 2, master distiller Desmond Payne pays homage to Burrough by making this special small-batch gin in the same Still No. 12 that Burrough used. The first edition of Burrough's Reserve was released in 2013. 

Once distilled, Burrough's Reserve Edition 2 is aged in both white and red charred Jean de Lillet Bordeaux barrels, achieving a beautiful, lightly toasted color and a warm, smooth mouthfeel.

Deep inside the caves, a series of underground tunnels used to age cheese, crafted cocktails made with original Beefeater gin were served alongside small bites that highlighted the gin's exceptional pairing with cheese, specifically goat cheese. A local New York musical group, The Crimson Ragdolls, sang folk songs that reverberated inside the arched bricked tunnels.

Guests of the launch party on Oct. 30 were treated to a special tasting in which three different tasting glasses were used to sample Reserve Edition 2. In each, the nose reacted to the shape of the glass: Softer with a wide and open glass shape, piercing and alcoholic in a narrow cylindrical glass, and a balance was found in a tulip-shaped glass.

Burrough's Reserve Edition 2 is now available and retails for $63.84.