Black Forest Distillers

Black Forest Distillers is a German production company linked to the 'Monkey 47' brand, a gin with a rich and distinctive style. The origins of this distillate are owed to Montgomery Collins, an eclectic and polyglot man who was the son of an English graduate, grew up in the Anglo-Indian province of Mandras and became a prominent commander in the Royal Air Force. When World War II ended, Montgomery was assigned to the British sector in Berlin engaged in rebuilding the destroyed city. There, he devoted himself passionately to restoring the zoo, where he became attached to a cute little monkey to whom he named Max. In 1950 the commander left the Royal Air Force and moved to the northern part of the Black Forest, "Schwarzwald" in German, where he opened a country hotel named "Zum Wilden Affen," or "the wild ape." Montgomery was a great fan of gin, and during this period he developed an innovative recipe that was able to combine the British tradition with the character of typical Asian spices and some botanicals picked right in the Black Forest. From this recipe, which calls for as many as 47 different ingredients, 'Monkey 47,' a tribute to the monkey Max, was born. For a long time the recipe remained hidden, found only recently, during the renovation of the Collins hotel, inside a wooden box containing a bottle marked "Max The Monkey," complete with an illustration of the monkey. The rediscovery and enhancement of this gin is owed in particular to Alexander Stein, founder in 2008 of Black Forest Distillers, and master distiller Christoph Keller.

Black Forest Distillers' Gin 'Monkey 47' is produced from a complex recipe comprising as many as 47 different ingredients, including cassia, hibiscus, jasmine, bergamot, red monarda, verbena, elderberry, spruce, juniper, coriander and Black Forest cranberry. Processing involves distillation in small steam-heated stills and subsequent maturation of the gin in 1,250-liter earthenware jars.

What is striking about Black Forest Distillers' Gin 'Monkey 47' is certainly its extraordinary expressive complexity, the result of the rich and skillful blend of botanicals underlying this gin.