Cucumber liqueur, pre-mixed Piña Colada and rum blended in Essex: The best new summer spirits

Amid dire predictions of 378 pub closures by the end of the year, any wet-led hospitality venue has to fight for custom nowadays.

 

Drinkers could be tempted through the doors or to stay a little longer if there are quality beverages for the sunnier weather, and spirits are a key component of an appealing offer, either alone or in cocktails.

 

Therefore, we have rounded up the latest and greatest spirits launches for the hospitality sector this summer.

 

Refresh your spirits menu with these new products.

 

Fresh cucumber liqueur

Ethical spirits producer Fair, distributed by Mangrove Global, has launched Fair Cucumber. The 18% liqueur is distilled in Cognac in France and uses ethically-sourced ingredients to create a subtle liqueur with notes of cucumber, spice and hints of citrus with a fresh finish.

 

Price 70cl bottle, from £16

 

Mango and passionfruit gin for spritzes

 

Paragon Brands is launching a mango and passionfruit gin under its June by G’Vine gin brand. The new 37.5% abv variant can be enjoyed with soda, tonic or lemonade, in a gin sour, in frozen cocktails or in boozy slushies as well as in a spritz. It is made with neutral, grape-based French G’Vine gin and a natural infusion of mango and passion fruit, all distilled in a copper pot still. 

 

Price Case of six 70cl bottles, from £112.05

 

Pre-mixed Piña Colada and Strawberry Daiquiri

 

London-based Lockdown Liquor & Co has introduced a summer cocktail duo: Piña Colada and Strawberry Daiquiri. The Piña Colada offers a lighter, more vibrant take on the classic tiki cocktail, with a blend of Two Drifters white rum, fresh pineapple juice, lime juice and pineapple syrup. The Strawberry Daiquiri also contains Two Drifters white rum, fresh strawberry purée, lime juice and simple syrup.

 

Price 1L bottle, £19

 

Apple and ginger gin liqueur

Kirker Greer Spirits has expanded its Jawbox range with Jawbox Apple & Ginger Gin Liqueur. The spirit is inspired by an unusual apple variety – Echlinville, grown on the distillery’s country estate just outside Belfast – which delivers crisp green apple notes complemented by citrus, juniper and warming ginger. It uses Jawbox’s small-batch London dry gin, which is made with 11 botanicals, including locally-harvested Belfast Black Mountain heather, juniper and pine.

 

Price 70cl bottle, £18.50

 

Smuggler-inspired rum

 

Leigh Spirit Co’s Old Leigh White, Gold and Aged rums are created as a tribute to the secret smuggling tunnels on the Essex coast. All the rums are made without additives or colouring and can either be sipped over ice, served with a mixer or used in cocktails. The White rum is a blend of two- to five-year-old white aged rums from Trinidad and unaged pot still rums from Jamaica; the Gold line combines unaged rums from the Dominican Republic, Barbados and Guyana; and the Aged variety is a blend of three- to five-year-old rums from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.

 

Price 70cl bottle White or Gold rum, £25