It’s not often you get 25 of Australia’s rarest most exclusive craft gins in one place, but that’s the genius of White Possum’s Aussie gin advent calendar.
Remember the thrill of an advent calendar when you were a child? Opening that first little door on December 1st and prising the chocolate from its mould. It meant the countdown to Christmas had begun and the finish line (aka opening all the presents) was in sight.
These days, most of those presents are for someone else and you can eat chocolate whenever you want as much as you want - one of the few benefits of being an adult - so that countdown doesn’t have the same meaning anymore.
But that doesn’t mean there’s no room for an advent calendar in your life.
White Possum, a company focussed on championing Aussie craft spirits, has for the fifth year in a row brought out their Aussie gin advent calendar. And this year’s is a ripper!
Selecting 25 rare, unsung, or limited edition gins and hiding them behind the most Aussie scene you can think of, White Possum have scoured the country for the best Chrissie build-up since you were 10.
What’s in the box?
I don’t want to give away the surprise, but there are some absolute crackers from six different states is hiding behind the doors in this year’s Aussie gin advent calendar.
Each one is in its own luxe black matte finish 30ml bottle with the gin type, distillery, ABV and a little map to show which state it’s from.
You also have a QR code (or web address if that’s not your bag) that takes you to the fascinating and beautifully written tasting notes for each gin.
Make sure you read the intro too - it tells you a bit of history to gin, how it’s made, juniper’s role in gin and also a bit out gin in our great land.
What’s on the box?
Once again, White Possum have thrown out the traditional Christmas nativity for something more colourful, more fun and entirely more Aussie.
Artist Jess Harwood has created a festive scene of happy Aussie animals for the calendar. From bilbies to bin chickens, wombats to fruit bats, kookas to cockies, bandicoots, tree snakes and a ringtail possum - all round a campfire enjoying snags, pav, marshmallows and of course a drop of Aussie craft gin.
You might recognise Jess’s work - you’ve no doubt seen her excellent cartoons and memes - especially her hilarious ‘Which quarantine bird are you?’ cartoon that went viral recently.
It helps you work out which flappy miscreant best represents you in lockdown!
So once you’ve popped the door on the day and extracted your gin, pour it into your favourite glass and take a sip. This’ll give you an idea of the flavour profiles before you chill it, add ice, maybe a splash of tonic, soda or a dash of vermouth - whatever you think will bring out the flavours best.
Then it’s your turn to sit, enjoy the gin and forget about worrying if you’ve got everyone’s presents for a while.