Our take
Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin is the Australian gin that broke every rule: steep Yarra Valley shiraz grapes in Rare Dry Gin for eight weeks, strain, bottle. What you get is deep plum-purple, slightly sweet, full of red-wine tannin and juniper. Pour it over a big ice cube with a wedge of pink grapefruit and call it done — it’s close to cocktail-ready as a gin gets.
Seasonal. Cameron Mackenzie only makes it once a year at vintage, then ships it until it runs out. Buy a bottle when you see it.
What to mix it with
G&T on ice with grapefruit. Negroni variation (half the vermouth it usually wants). Straight up the way you’d sip a good sloe gin. Next to anything spicy — curry, Sichuan, chilli crab.
Background
Four Pillars is the Yarra Valley distillery founded by Stuart Gregor, Cameron Mackenzie and Matt Jones in 2013. The Bloody Shiraz was first released in 2015 as a seasonal one-off and has become the distillery’s most copied innovation. It 's entirely Australian in character: shiraz grapes, Aussie gin, nothing imported.
Recipes and cocktails this pairs with
Every post on Food & Drinks that recommends this bottle.
