Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin
Pernod Ricard (Monkey 47, est. 2010) · Black Forest Distillers, Lossburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Monkey 47 is what happens when obsession meets the Black Forest. Alexander Stein, the founder, wasn’t content with the standard gin playbook of six to ten botanicals. He sourced forty-seven — roughly a third from the forest surrounding his distillery — including lingonberries, spruce shoots, bramble leaves, and acacia flowers. The result is aged three months in traditional earthenware crocks before bottling, a resting step almost no other gin producer bothers with. At 47% ABV (of course), it has the structure to support all that botanical complexity without collapsing into confusion. The fact that it comes in a 375 mL bottle at a premium price has done nothing to slow demand — proof that obsessive quality creates its own market.
Nose
Lingonberry, juniper, black pepper, lavender, citrus peel, pine needles, and a complex herbal bouquet that reveals new layers with every sniff.
Palate
Extraordinarily complex — cranberry, juniper, white pepper, honey, dried herbs, floral notes, citrus oil, and a bitter-sweet interplay that keeps shifting across the palate.
Finish
Remarkably long with lingering pepper, forest botanicals, citrus zest, and a dry herbal quality that evolves for minutes.
- Botanicals
- 47 botanicals including lingonberry, blackberry, spruce, lavender, acacia, pomelo, verbena — ~15 from the Black Forest
- Base Spirit
- Molasses spirit, cut with Black Forest spring water
- Distillation
- Macerated and distilled in a small Arnold Holstein copper pot still; rested 3 months in earthenware crocks
Cocktail Suggestion
Cocktail — The Black Forest Collins: 1.5 oz Monkey 47 · ¾ oz fresh lemon juice · ½ oz lingonberry or cranberry syrup · 3 oz club soda · fresh thyme sprig. Build over ice in a tall glass. The lingonberry syrup amplifies what’s already in the gin, while the thyme bridges the herbal botanicals.
Food Pairing
Pair with: Black Forest ham with cornichons and mustard on dark rye. A regional pairing for a regional gin — the botanicals echo the forest, the pepper spice matches the mustard, and the lingonberry acidity cuts through the richness of the ham.
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