When the creators of the iconic Monkey 47 turn their skills to crafting a Sloe Gin using fruit from the Black Forest, you just know it's going to be exceptional. They've taken their multi-award-winning and wonderfully peppery gin - crafted with 47 handpicked botanicals including tangy lingonberries - and macerated Black Forest sloes in it for three months. Punchy juniper coupled with a big hit of red berry fruit and trapped in an old-fashioned pharmacy bottle. It also has a touch of nuttiness on the finish, which is what we think makes this the connoisseur's choice. Mix this - with the carefree abandon of a monkey if you can manage it - into a Sloe Gin Negroni or Sloe Gin Fizz. Alternatively, top with soda or tonic, or just sip it neat alongside a cheeseboard. Monkey 47 is produced by Black Forest Distillers in memory of a man called Commander Montgomery Collins, who lived in Berlin at the end of the Second World War and sponsored an egret monkey called Max at the local zoo.£9 per 100.00ml