Actually when we said 47, we mean 4+7, which we can manage. Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin has a most interesting backstory, and a charming way of marketing their product. This month, La Maison du Whisky and The Library have created one of the coolest pop-up you’ll ever see. It surrounds the foyer of this hidden bar (don’t forget your password!) and it’s a veritable forest filled with fresh scents, animal noises and three monkeys for you to find. It’ll make you appreciate the lengths the brand goes to to create this award-winning unfiltered gin. 

This month they’re also launching the 2015 Distiller’s Cut – only 4,000 bottles made and Singapore has 100 – and there are special cocktails made with it. Before you head to The Library, here are 11  interesting things you might not know about this German dry gin.

1  Why does the gin taste so pristine? It’s all about the water (and fresh handpicked ingredients of course), and it doesn’t get any more crystal than at the Black Forest, where the soft water from the Danube gathers.

2  The original recipe for the gin is from the ‘50s (from intrepid adventurer Montgomery Collins), and the formulation as we know it now was finalised in 2008. It contains 47 botanicals – that’s 37 more than Bombay Sapphire – mostly from the Black Forest, and the alcohol has always been 47%.

3  Only two people on this planet know the recipe and what those 47 botanicals are. It’s not quite like Coca Cola’s 7X formula, but we do need these two fellas to stay healthy and to fly in separate airplanes.

4  The lemons are from Sicily – just thought we’d throw that in there. (One season they couldn’t get the lemons they wanted so production was halted shortly, that’s how particular they are). Here’s a video about those coveted lemons.

5  All 47 botanicals are macerated first before distilling. For the limited edition Distiller’s Cut, the 48^th ingredient is also macerated first before blending.

6  It’s still made on a farm with that one still.

7  In Asia, Singapore is the second biggest market for Monkey 47. Yup, Japan is saisho #1.

8  There’s only been five Distiller’s Cut so far, 2015’s special ingredient is spignel, harvested by hands over two weeks; only enough for 4000 bottles was harvested. (Purple shamrock and Norwegian spruce were employed before).

9  Fresh cranberries from the Black Forest is the secret weapon which gives the dry gin its unique flavour. As do other ingredients like spruce, elderflower, blackthorn and bramble leaves. Actually, that’s a lot of not-so-secret weapons now.

10  Every ingredient is handpicked, by the way. And the special corks are from Portugal, which have smaller holes. This video explains it.

11  That monkey has a name – it’s called Max.

The special cocktails with the Distiller’s Cut include Great Golden Ape and the Vegan Monkey (above, with spiced pear liquor, spinach juice, lemon juice and Rooibos syrup). It’s quite fantastic.

Visit La Maison du Whisky if you want to buy a bottle. Or go to The Library (47! Keong Saik Road) if you want to see the pop-up and order a monkey cocktail. Blink and you’re gonna miss it.

Love your gin? Then you best mix it with Fever-Tree

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