Aldi Exquisite Collection Fino Sherry

If you’re a fino fan you’ll love this classic super-dry, tangy sherry - one of three incredibly well-priced sherries Aldi has released in its Exquisite Collection range at just £5.99 for 50cl. (The others are an amontillado and a cream sherry - both good too but slightly sweeter than the classic Spanish style)

Apparently they’re a seasonal line so won’t be a permanent fixture* although I guess they’re just putting a toe in the water to see how they’ll go. Majestic interestingly has been reporting a big increase in sherry sales this year.

The advantage of the fino being a limited edition is that it is still super-fresh - and should be kept so. Pop it into the fridge and drink it up within the week - which shouldn’t be hard! And pair it with some good iberico ham.

For more fino sherry pairing suggestions see

The best pairings for fino and manzanilla sherry

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* they also don't seem to be available online

Gin of the month: Albury sloe and damson gins

There are not one but two gins of the month this month - both limited editions from the same distiller Silent Pool in Surrey. One’s a damson and the other a sloe gin and they come in 50cl bottles at - gulp - £30 a bottle.

I nearly didn’t recommend them on that basis but they are basically the best flavoured gins I’ve tasted, homemade included. This is probably because they are unusually high in alcohol - 35% rather than the usual 20-25%% which carries the fruit flavours incredibly well - and I imagine gives them a slightly longer life once open. They are also considerably less sweet than most commercial versions.

Some of you might find them too alcoholic to drink on their own - my gin-loving neighbour did - but I must confess they are exactly the sort of spirits I would want to carry in a hip flask in the unlikely event I were out hunting or yomping across Exmoor. They would also make the perfect nightcap

The damson which is delectably plummy is probably the more approachable of the two though the sloe has a marvellously bitter (but not medicinal) edge that I really find appealing. The distillery recommends you serve it over ice or with a squeeze of lemon but I quite like it neat at room temperature.

The pair would make a great gift for any gin lover. You can buy them from the Silent Pool website*

* they also have a rather lovely gift pack of their own Silent Pool Gin with two beautifully decorated 'copa' glasses

Big Drop Brewing 0.5% Pale Ale

I’ve been focussing quite a lot on alcohol-free drinks recently so I headed along to the Mindful Drinking festival in Spitalfields yesterday where I discovered this brilliant range of low alcohol (0.5%) beers.

They were all impressive - and beautifully packaged with colourful labels that depict rural Suffolk scenes - but I think the award winning pale ale is the most successful. It’s heavy on hops which makes up for the lack of alcohol and has an added dash of lime which makes it a good partner, they say, for a Thai chicken curry.

There’s also a convincing lager, a coffee-laden milk stout and - for Christmas - a spiced ale flavoured with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves that I think might benefit from being served warm or at least at centrally heated room temperature rather than chilled.

You can buy them from the low alcohol website drydrinker.com in cases of 6 to 24 bottles (6 bottles cost £16.99) or in a mixed case of 12 bottles for £30.99 if you want to try them all. They're also available at The Draft House pubs.

The Ivy Gin and Fevertree clementine tonic

It’s two for one in the bottle slot today - a terrific new gin and the perfect matching tonic.

The gin is the Ivy restaurant’s new centenary gin, made for them by Chase. It’s a smooth, elegant, aromatic, slightly herbal gin with ivy, spruce needles, and sage as three of the botanicals.

They sent it with a couple of bottles of Fevertree’s new limited edition clementine and cinnamon tonic* which, garnished with a slice of fresh clementine, was the perfect match with just a delicate note of clementine in the background. (Don’t try the same trick with Fentiman’s Mediterranean orange tonic water which tastes like orangina.)

I’m hoping it will work equally well with other gins as the Ivy's is expensive (£50 at John Lewis). I tried it with a bottle of export strength Tanqueray I happened to have to hand and it wasn’t as good. I’m wondering if a simple gin like Gordon’s - or even Aldi’s low cost equivalent would work.

You could also drink it on its own with ice and slices of clementine and maybe a few pomegranate seeds to pretty it up.

Anyway I’m laying in stocks - it would make the perfect Christmas G & T. And the Ivy gin would make a great gift for any gin aficionado.

(Incidentally it went perfectly with some smoked salmon with an orangey gravadlax my friends had brought along)

* The tonic is £1.69 at Waitrose and Ocado.