Alentejo, Portugal:
A gin for the locavore purist
There are many reasons that Portugal is arguably the most sought-after destination for vacation and ex-pat living – chief among them the incredibly warm and friendly people, the long stretches of pristine beaches, the extraordinarily fresh and varied seafood, and the affordability of a very comfortable standard of living.
One reason that might not come to mind is a nascent local spirit-distilling industry. While the Portuguese have been making excellent wines for centuries – most notably the full-bodied ports and red wines from the Douro Valley and the young exuberant Vinho Verdes from the northern coast – the past decade has seen the emergence of creative and environmentally conscious local artisan gin distilleries. And no producer exemplifies this more than Black Pig Distillery in the Alentejo region just an hour south of Lisbon.
Black Pig is the first distillery we have visited (and the only such distillery, to our knowledge) that uses locally sourced products for 100% of the ingredients in their bottle. That includes the base alcohol and all of the botanicals that are infused in their gin. You cannot get a smaller carbon footprint or a more environmentally sustainable process than that.
The distillery is located on what had been a family-owned farm that raised Black Iberian pigs, indigenous to Spain and Portugal. These pigs have a diet that consists primarily of acorns, which accounts for the nutty, evocative flavor of highly sought-after Jamon Iberico. While the farm no longer raises Black pigs, the plentiful stands of oak trees continue to provide an abundant supply of acorns. It is the genius of the founders of Black Pig Distillery to use these acorns as the source of the base alcohol for their gin.
And all of the botanical ingredients of their gin, including the juniper berries, are grown on land that is owned by the distillery and neighboring farms. At present, Black Pig produces two gin products – one whose botanicals are harvested primarily from the coastal area nearby, the other from botanicals grown more among the forests and hills that comprise much of the Alentejo region. The former, Gin da Costa Alentejana (Alentejo Coast), has a citrus flavor that plays very lightly on the tongue, and indeed inspires thoughts of summer sun. The latter, Gin do Montado Alentejano, seems made to warm up an evening chill.
While both gins open up marvelously when paired with tonic, we found the Alentejo Coast version to have a particularly exquisite taste when poured neat. One of the tastiest gins, in fact, that we have sampled to date. We bought a few bottles for our road trip to the beaches in the Algarve, and found it also made excellent Negronis and dry Martinis.
It may not be long before you find this delicious product at your local spirits shop. At the time of our tour of the distillery, they were boxing up eight pallets of gin for their first export to the U.S. We highly recommend you try Gin da Costa Alentejana from Black Pig Distilleries. Find them online at https://blackpig.pt/
Pausing in Lisbon for a final two days before returning Stateside, we took the opportunity to have drinks and food at The Gin Lovers Bar and Restaurant. An extremely fun experience to be sure. The bartenders certainly know the nuances of the many gins they serve (several of them were crafted and bottled for their establishment) and prepared some excellent cocktails. The appetizers served were delicious and paired well with the spirit offerings. Don’t miss it on your next trip to Lisbon!
