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The History of Gin (Online)

Public Domain
Df16070c seeable

Taught by David McNicoll

Although I now live in New York I come from the heart of the Scottish Highlands, a land steeped in
whisky in both story and song, and where I honed my knowledge and enjoyment of our national drink. Over the last decade I have taken that experience and built upon it, representing as ambassador several Scotch brands in the city. I am about to launch a new book exploring the ‘language of whisky’, and the origins of the names of those familiar bottles on the back-bar.

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*This is a live online class via Zoom*

From the debauched slums of Victorian London to dry martinis and fancy cocktail parties, gin has had a remarkable journey, a story that reflects the ever changing moods and sensibilities of society at large.

Like many other spirits, it began life in the alchemist’s workshop as a medicinal cure-all, a link it would retain as a mainstay of European Battlefields and colonial outposts.

Gin has had many moments in the sun, but it has had it critics: mothers’ ruin was seen by the puritanical as the scourge of the working classes, and this imagery has informed much of our opinions on its history. But, every time it was proscribed or looked like vanishing it bounced back, re-invented. No time is that more true than today, with a raft of new distilleries popping up - including here in New York.

Join me as I take you on the most incredible voyage across the globe and through every facet of life as we explore the history of Gin...and prepare to be surprised! 

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