When the Langhe meets the Caribbean: an explosive mixture between the gin that breaks the mold and the rum that made history.
The latest addition to the house has just been presented in Barbaresco, at the Campamac tavern Engine: it is a limited edition of the Alta Langa gin, which was created for the occasion aged for six months in Caroni barrels distilled in 1998.
After the refinement period, the gin was simply filtered, in order to fully preserve the aromatic bouquet given by the barrels: a process that gives Engine a refined and surprising complexity.
An unusual meeting that promises sparks, the one between the heart of Piedmont and the spirit of Trinidad, from which these 5000 bottles which represent a unique stage in the Engine search journey. A meeting favored by the collaboration and esteem that has been binding for some time Paolo Dalla Mora, owner of Engine, and the President of Velier Luca Gargano, who was the discoverer of the surviving stock of Trinidad's legendary Caroni distillery, closed since 2003, and who contributed to the selection of barrels for this project.
Innovate Engine
“Four years after its birth, I felt the need to create an extension product line", says Paolo Dalla Mora, and continues: "I am fanatical about innovation, but innovating on Engine does not mean making a variant with other organic botanicals: there will be space for those, the brand is still young. For me, innovating now means playing with the classic liquid and with our Heritage. This is why last year we started by designing and producing our own tonic, enhancing the sage that is put in an Engine & Tonic and arriving at serving it in a can that becomes a glass; therefore not a ready to serve like all cans are but a ready to drink, i.e. open and enjoy directly".
Dalla Mora continues: “And now the time has finally come to play only with the liquid and therefore, thanks to our friend Luca Gargano, we have sent in around ten barrels of Caroni distilled in 1998 to bottle a reserve with a warm, citrus and tannic flavour.
Engine Gin Tonic non-alcoholic: VirGINtonic
Finally, a preview of the future: “Aone will arrive , that is, a non-alcoholic Engine Gin Tonic designed for the designated driver, the one who goes out in the evening and has to drive while the other friends have fun".
Engine Caroni is a fresh gin with multiple nuances, in which the intense aroma of sage is softened by notes of ripe summer fruits, with the balsamic flavor of juniper harmoniously combined with delicate hints of toasted wood. When tasted, liquorice and caramel are protagonists of great elegance on the palate.
For this limited edition, iconic oil bottles were created by Engine for the first time but with a new and sinuous shape in amber glass.
The distilled energy of Engine
It's difficult to still amaze when we talk about gin, yet Paolo Dalla Mora always manages to do so. It has done so since the beginning of the Engine adventure, creating a new flamboyant spirit capable of combining the passion for engines with the great tradition of Italian artisanal spirits.
Because Engine doesn't just have packaging that immediately catches the eye, with its can that immediately takes us back to the automotive myths of the 1980s, between fuel and petrol cans. Engine is a Distilled Gin produced in Alta Langa, in the heart of Piedmont, with organic 100% ingredients, whose most representative botanicals - sage and lemon - are intended as a tribute to the noble and ancient school of Piedmontese rosoli.
Engine in short, it also wants to be a representation of a territory, reinterpreted in a contemporary way thanks to a distillation obtained through a copper John Dore distiller, the Rolls Royce in the world of distillation.
In addition to Alta Langa sage and Sicilian lemons, the botanicals that contribute to giving Engine personality are the Tuscan juniper, the Piedmontese damask rose, the liquorice from Rossano in Calabria, the cereal alcohol and the water of the Alps, all coming from small organic farmers.
Caroni: Trinidad's cult distillery
The story of Caroni really seems like the plot of an adventure novel: founded in 1918 and annexed to the sugar factory of the same name, it is the Trinidad State Distillery. Always famous for its heavy rum rich in congeners, Caroni bottles only limited quantities of product for the local market, selling mostly in bulk to give personality to the blends created by local and international producers.
Then, in 2003, the government decided to stop the production of cane sugar and closed everything down, starting the liquidation process and leaving 13 thousand people without work.
The December 9, 2004, Luca Gargano takes a trip to Trinidad together with the photographer Fredi Marcarini, and arrives at the now abandoned distillery. He asks to enter, is taken to a warehouse and finds himself in front of an incredible treasure: hundreds of barrels piled up, including some dating back to 1974 up to the nineties.
After contacting whoever holds the rights to the warehouse, Luca had the samples sent to him to taste, discovering an amazing rum, and immediately purchased the oldest barrels - he would purchase a total of 1388. His decision to bottle the rums at cask strength year per year, respecting their characteristics as much as possible, as well as continuing the aging in a Caribbean climate, where the angel's share ranges from 8 to 11%, proves successful: Caroni quickly becomes a cult throughout Europe, acquiring more and more value among collectors.
And today the myth lives again through the bombastic spirit of Engine, opening new and exciting horizons of taste.
