The liquor par excellence in Menorca is Gin de Mahón, a gin that has its origins in the times of British rule and which since its inception in the year 1750 in the heart of a Menorcan family, the Pons family, has Its essential recipe and its artisanal production have been transmitted from generation to generation until today, which remains in the hands of the descendants of its founders.
One of the most outstanding characteristics of this unique and particular gin that the Pons saga continues to produce under the Gin Xoriguer brand is its production method. For distillation they use copper pot stills that are over two hundred years old and continue to heat with firewood from the Menorcan forests. Thanks to the fire of the boilers, the vapors are formed, which after circulating through copper tubes, condense and give rise to the gin that sprouts drop by drop.
But not only this artisanal process is the architect of the particular flavor of the Menorca Gin, but also the quality wine, the sloes of the Pyrenees, the combination of aromatic herbs and the Mahón water give this liquor a unique character.
This drink, which is consumed mainly in summer and especially during the Sant Joan de Ciutadella festivities, is served very cold in a ratio of one third of gin to two of lemonade. This refreshing combo takes the popular name of ‘ointment‘.
Its name, Xoriguer, comes from what was the livelihood of the Pons, wheat flour in a Mahón mill with this name. The same mill that carries the label of the Gin Xoriguer bottle.
The distillery can be visited to learn about the history of the gin and the family and to see the process of making the liquor. We can get to the Gin Xoriguer facilities in the Port of Maó with a rental motorcycle