Swimming Pigs is an English craft gin company founded by native Bahamian Anthony Reckley. He credits his love of gin, the Caribbean, and the real swimming pigs found there, as the inspiration behind the distillery. An opportunity to combine all three passions.
Anthony's goal was to create a gin that represents the Caribbean. A worthy alternative to the rum that most people would more commonly associate with the islands. The gin is infused with tropical fruits and botanicals that Tony recalls from his own childhood there, and showcases exotic flavours of tropical fruits and spices well loved by the Bahamian islanders.
Swimming Pigs is named after the herd of feral pigs that can be found on Big Major Cay, one of the several hundred islands in Exhuma in the Bahamas. The island is also known as “Pig Beach” or “Pig Island”, and can be found around 50 miles to the northwest of Georgetown. The island, which is entirely uninhabited by humans, can only be reached by boat and is a popular tourist destination. Holiday makers regularly visit the island to explore and swim with the pigs who seem to love a dip in the warm clear water.
Even the locals admit that the origin story of the swimming pigs is something of a mystery. The species is not native, so how did they get there? Legends vary, from stories of the animals escaping the hold of a sinking ship, to pirates stashing a few stolen pigs for dinner and forgetting to come back to retrieve their meal. Possibly the most believable tale, comes from a man named Wayde Nixon. He claims he and his business partner brought the first pigs to the island in the late 1990's with a view to starting a pig farm on the island. The men claim they were doomsday prepping a sustainable source of food, amid fears of the Y2K computer meltdown predicted on New Year's Day 2000. When the crisis never materialised, the pigs were left to their own devices and have since grown in numbers. There are usually around 20 pigs roaming the island at any one time, paddling in the sea, lounging in the sand and chasing down unwitting tourists for a share of their packed lunch.
The bottle is sturdy, rounded clear glass featuring understated labelling of black and white with a wood effect border. The artwork on the label features one very contented looking piggy, enjoying a lazy swim in the warm waters of the Caribbean. Not an attention stealer by any means but the labelling is fairly adorable and will look interesting showcased in a drinks cabinet.
So how does it taste?
On the nose: Clean citrus notes of lime and fresh green apple on a background of sweet warming spices, vanilla and tropical fruit.
On the palate: Smooth and clean, extremely fruit forward with tropical fruit punch flavours, melon, berries and passionfruit. Sweet coconut and warming dessert spices.
On the finish: Lingering spices leading to a long and warming, but still ver fruity, finish.
Perfect serve: This fruity gin would make a lovely refreshing G&T served over ice with a premium tonic and a juicy slice of mango. To really showcase it's tropical fruit flavours, we have deferred to the distillers for a couple of cheeky gin cocktails that really make the botanicals pop.
Sky Juice
Ingredients
• 50ml Swimming Pigs Gin
• 50ml coconut water
• 40ml condensed milk
• 2 slices fresh pineapple
Method
1. Add the gin, coconut water and condensed milk to a cocktail shaker
2. Fill shaker with ice and shake vigorously
3. Strain into a highball glass and garnish with pineapple
4. Top with a cherry.
Caribbean Spritz
Ingredients
• 50ml Swimming Pigs Gin
• 25ml Cachaca 51
• 2 Fresh strawberries
• ½ fresh lemon
Method
1. Muddle the strawberries in a cocktail shaker
2. Add the gin, cachaca rum and juice from the lemon
3. Add ice and shake well
4. Strain over ice in a large wine glass
5. Top up with premium tonic and garnish with a slice of lemon.
Gin Dum
Ingredients
• 50ml Swimming Pigs Gin
• 35ml Lemon juice
• 35ml Simple syrup
• 25ml Egg white
Method
1. Add gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white to a cocktail shaker
2. Shake well
3. Pour over ice into a lowball glass and garnish with cucumber
Our Swimming Pigs Gin gift box contains one full size 70cl bottle of Swimming Pigs Gin (40% ABV), a 500ml bottle of premium Fever-Tree Tonic Water to get you started off with a fruity G&T, and a delicious bar of chocolate to really compliment those tropical fruit flavours. What could be better?
Until next time,
Cheers!
A British Company.