Mapping the Flavours of Hidden Temple Gin

The Hidden Temple Gin bottle could be mistaken for a Raiders of the Lost Ark treasure map, with colourful flora, fauna and retro artefacts shrouding the bottle in mystery. Under close inspection though, rather than a map to archaeological riches, these images foretell the flavourful treasures hidden within. 

Only a handful of distilleries across Canada make gin from apple-base spirit, and Toronto’s Nickel 9 Distillery is one of them. Distiller, Greg Morrison begins with a blend of apple juices made from fresh fruit picked an hour outside of Toronto, which he ferments then distils to make their Northern Temple vodka. This vodka is then used as the base spirit to make the gin.

 First Morrison proofs the spirit down to 40% alcohol, “We get it to the point where it could be bottled as Northern Temple Vodka, but we use a majority of it to macerate our botanicals,” he explains. This macerate includes mulched bergamot flower and leaves, grapefruit peel, chaga, and a few traditional botanicals that soak for two days. “We want the macerate spirit to be 40% or lower before adding it to the still. At this strength, you still get a great extraction.” 

After straining the leftover botanicals out, the spirit is added to Nickel 9’s copper pot gin still. As the vapours travel through a gin basket containing spruce tips and cedar leaves, the aromatic evergreen layers meld into the spirit. “When we first came up with the recipe, we macerated the spruce and cedar along with everything else. They were a little overpowering. We found that by putting them in the gin basket, we got just a slight hint of spruce and cedar in the aftertones, creating a woodsy finish.” Once it is ready, they bottle the gin at 41.6% abv to match Toronto’s iconic area code.

The nose on this contemporary gin is quite expressive. An evergreen essence that rests on the palate balances a tangy blend of citrus, sweet and herbal floral notes, along with shades of earl grey tea. A plush, sweet texture shows bright and bitter citrus aromatic compounds with nary a hint of heavy resins. 

Raiders of the Lost Ark begins with Indiana Jones dodging darts that are being shot at him, almost falling into a pit, barely avoiding being crushed by a sliding rock wall and racing to escape a giant boulder bearing down on him. Then he crashes through webs filled with poisonous spiders and evades arrows from the bows of an ancient tribe. All of this to get his treasure. But if you’re Jonesing for quality gin, Nickel 9 did all the hard work for you. For your part, just wear a mask and practice social distancing when visiting the distillery for a bottle.

The gin can also be purchased and shipped across Canada from the distillery’s website or purchased at the LCBO.  

You can read more about Nickel 9’s story in our book, The Definitive Guide to Canadian Distilleries.