9 Moons was born out of the experimental cocktail making of a daring group of New York mixologists who had achieved some amazing results by storing Martin Miller's gin in mini-barrels
At first, one of the co-founders, purist Andreas Versteegh, was sceptical because he was convinced that Martin Miller's gin was perfect, but the intrigue it generated on his taste buds inspired him. As he was about to celebrate his birthday, he decided to treat himself to an assortment of oak barrels, which he filled with gin and stored in Iceland.
It's a great idea
In his quest to achieve the perfect balance between taste and finish, Versteegh tried different types of barrels during the process of creating 9 Moons. The key was to respect the original gin and to avoid over-enthusiasm and over-aging that would result in something akin to a bad whisky.
Hence 9 Moons
Hence, in the process of aging Martin Miller's gin, small improvements were sought that would add greater depth to the gin and reinforce its flavors. The casks were carefully monitored, tasted and examined with great care. At the end of 9 months, one of the oak casks achieved the perfect balance, as it managed to retain the flavour of the gin, but with that extra magical touch imparted by the nine months of resting on the oak bed.
After 9 months of resting on the oak bed
Normally, in the aging process of a liquor the golden rule is that the longer the better. However, in this case, waking it relatively early from its nine-month slumber made it clear that patience isn't everything and that sometimes it's more important to know when to stop.
9 Moons Gin is aged in oak casks. These are filled with Martin Miller's gin with a high alcohol content and left to age for 9 months, or 9 moons, in the Martin Miller's Gin cellar in Borgarnes, Iceland. Around 2000 numbered bottles are drawn one by one from each cask and then blended with Icelandic spring water to a bottling strength of 40%, giving them that characteristic smooth quality of Martin Miller's drinks. There's a total production run of 8,000 bottles
Luckily, Iceland's cold, dry climate has proved to be the ideal atmosphere for ageing gin and has a number of advantages. These conditions make it possible to significantly slow down the ageing process and accurately measure the progress of this complex and fascinating spirit.
We are looking forward to the next step in the process
We hope that, in the future, we will be able to toast with the spirits from the different types of casks currently resting in our cellar
