Q&A with Prohibition Liquor’s Adam Carpenter
THE gin industry is in fine spirits, says “bootlegger” Adam Carpenter who owns the Prohibition Liquor Co with Wes Heddles.
THE gin industry is in fine spirits, says “bootlegger” Adam Carpenter who owns the Prohibition Liquor Co with Wes Heddles. “We chose the name Prohibition because this is the largest boom in gin consumption since the Prohibition era. Gin is the fastest growing spirit in the world, bar none.” He describes gin as a passion-project, “so we only care about one thing, quality”.
My favourite SA gin (other than my own) is ... Applewood Gin.
The best hangover cure is ... hair of the dog – a gin of course.
The best wine I have ever tried is ... a 1992 Henschke Hill of Grace. It was a great year, and a sensational wine.
My bucket-list wine or wine experience would be ... to revisit a cycling trip through Bordeaux and do the wine region properly.
The first glass of wine I ever sampled was ... with a good friend of our family who cracked a Penfolds Grange, circa late 1980s vintage. I was (slightly) under age but my dad said it was worth breaking the rules for a small taste of such a legendary wine.
The SA restaurant with the best wine list is ... FermentAsian. It has the best wine list I have seen lately.
Do I think $785 for a bottle of Grange is good value? ... Value is in the eye of the beholder. You can’t fake a particular vintage of a particular wine, so it is an experience to be valued. Would I pay that for a bottle? Generally no, as I believe there are exceptional wines for a fraction of that price, which I would feel are a sufficient indulgence and experience.
If I could never drink wine again I’d drink ... gin, of course.
My choice of a last supper would be ... a beautiful kingfish carpaccio, followed by a rare wagyu rib-eye steak and classic French creme brulee. To drink, a simple Prohibition Gin and tonic with blood orange and lavender.
To me, gin is ... my passion.