On September 6th, Tanqueray Global Brand Ambassador, Angus Winchester, visited Dallas for an evening of gin and good times at the Joule Hotel’s rooftop pool. Winchester started the evening behind the bar, mixing up gin and tonics, Southsides (gin, lemon, sugar, mint, soda) and Negronis.
Upon request for something a bit different, he made me a Perfect Ten, which is simply Tanqueray Ten shaken with a lemon peel, and then strained into a cocktail glass. When asked why he shook the gin instead of stirring it, he mentioned that stirring wasn’t necessary when it’s just gin. But that if he were making a martini with vermouth, he’d stir it.
Winchester was in town in support of Tanqueray’s recently-launched “Tonight We Tanqueray” campaign, which suggests Tanqueray Gin as one’s first drink when preparing for the night. Sounds okay to me.
Some highlights –
Winchester said he got the brand ambassador gig because he’s tall and thin like the Tanqueray Ten bottle. But that down the road, this job may make him look more like the original Tanqueray’s short, squat bottle.
Winchester mentioned that he loves the gin category but is wary of new companies creating “gin” that eschews proper distillation techniques and bucks traditional flavor profiles – essentially creating grain spirits with flavors like roses and cardamom.
Bartenders at the event generally liked Tanqueray’s big, bold, juniper-forward character and agreed that softer gins get lost in a Negroni.
Cristobal – yes, it was chilled. He shook gin with ice and a lemon peel, then strained it into the glass.
I might be reading this wrong but when you asked why he shook gin only and he said it wasn’t necessary to stir it since it was just gin?
Maybe it wasn’t chilled?