Animus Distillery Elements Spiced Mandarin-Cello

Animus Distillery Elements Spiced Mandarin-Cello is a mandarin liqueur built on the distillery's Ambrosian Gin.

Limoncello is the model, mandarin is the fruit, and the base is a gin, which is where this departs from the Italian original. Ambrosian, with its ginger, galangal and makrut lime leaf, gives the liqueur a spicy floor that plain spirit could not. The mandarins come mostly from Mildura, the variety shifting with the season and with what is good. Peel is taken off by hand to avoid pith and soaks in the gin for a day or so before being removed, the flesh is juiced and added to the vat, then the whole thing is cut with water and house-made sugar syrup to 30 per cent.

Pure mandarin, lifted and perfumed, with citrus zest and spice from the gin underneath and a luscious, rounded close. Serve it very cold in small glasses after dinner, or use it in a spritz with prosecco and soda. It also stands in nicely for orange liqueur in a sour.